An Encounter with Mother Gaia: Magical Experiences Exist When We Acknowledge Them
Hey Stemians!
This weekend I took a little trip to Port Charlotte, Florida. It was filled with boat rides, wake-boarding, chilling by the pool, and dancing. I got to swim with dolphins! Or rather, I got to swim in the same area as dolphins since the 10 of them were getting nowhere near us humans. It was still amazing as I have never seen wild dolphins up close.
On Monday, as we were exploring some of the piers and enjoying the scenery we came across this gorgeous tree. She’s tall, with two strong arms and beautiful Spanish Moss cascading down like strands of hair. She called to me as soon as I stepped out of the car and into the small park we stumbled upon. I’m going to warn you right now: yes I am a hippy and yes I hug trees. And what a glorious hug it was! Even my boyfriend couldn’t resist. It was so empowering to connect with Mother Earth through this tree. We laughed and skipped off to check out the small beach.
The water was calm, glistening in the sunlight, and we talked about how cool it is that the Earth has all these different terrains that are just built for adventures. My boyfriend is a snowboarder, so his heart is in the mountains, and he said that there is something so mysterious about them. And I chimed in that I love deep dark forests and they definitely have mysteries within them. Oceans and deserts have their own secrets and we can imagine so many unique and inspiring stories that could (and do) spring out of these places.
“Look, there’s a conch shell in between those rocks,” my boyfriend exclaimed suddenly. The shell was perfectly positioned with its spiral top shining bright against the black rocks so we stepped down from the little concrete ledge and picked it out. It is fully intact and looks like a treasure.
“Thanks mother Gaia!” I said and we both agreed that this was absolutely worth the half hour of aimless back-road driving.
We gave Earth a hug, she gave us a gift. I think that actually counts as two gifts.
I had such a great weekend with you! and that Tree hug was magical!
You weren't too far from me in Orlando! Swimming with dolphins is a great wonder of the world. I did it while working at Discovery Cove, as well as swimming with six-foot manta rays and schools of florescent fish and even some small sharks over at Disney. After living in the Colorado mountains for 20 years, living by the sea is an amazing change.
Wow, how cool! I'm not a huge water lover, but it's such an amazing world! I went to Aruba for the first time this summer as well and snorkeled! And then had flying dreams after. It was such a spectacular experience seeing all the colorful fish.
I absolutely want to go to Colorado and enjoy the mountains everyone keeps talking about. I'm originally from Russia, so forests, fields, and swamps are my area of expertise lol :)
What propelled you to make such a drastic change?
A divorce and a new relationship.
Nice. New love brings us to the most unexpected, but wonderful places.
I regularly hug trees and once in a while climb one too!
haha I'm glad I'm not the only one. Sometimes... I get 'caught in the act' and people give me weird looks and cross the street.
Everyone is weird, those looks prove it ;-) keep on hugging <3