Ode to Our Nature

Life’s hard enough without feeling like a dumb-dumb-dead-duck every time something hurts. Yet, that’s been my curse as I’ve spent years believing that every loss and break was punishment for being a poo-headed-putz.

Far beyond the realm of healthy accountability and humble learning, even the things that have been out of my control have been subject to colossal condemnation. I thought that if I blamed myself for all the hard things in life, punishing myself to do better would make life easier.

But, sure enough, no matter how heavy my iron fist, I’ve still had days that were stuck in the pits. Trapped in an endless replay of a voice that says, “Game over, Clunker: you don’t deserve happiness,” it’s been hard to keep going.

But, thankfully, there’s also a voice that cuts through the funk, like a sweet talking citrus bathing a skunk.

For as much as despair can find its proof, so can love too.

To that I’m dedicated to sing to you.

So, despite my devilish disciplinarian, every day I look the world around me for reassurance that this life is worth living -and that I’m worthy of this life (even through the slap-stick seasons of stumbles and strife). I succeed. I fail. I gain. I lose. I feel good. And, I hurt too. Some days I’m confident and sometimes I’m terrified. Some days I give thanks, and others I’m cursing the sky.

In any case, one thing is certain:

I suffer less when I love through it.

Along the way, I’ve found great help in the reflections I find in the critters and crawlers, the smoke and the slime, the wind and the waters, the hard shells and sharp teeth, the fallen and flowers, the birds and the bees.

Through the weather and seasons of change, the same story remains:

We grow (which is awkward).

We’re challenged (which is hard).

We overcome (which is awesome).

And then it all breaks down so that we can start again.

Even so, we’re all subject to the bumfuzzle of being human. For no matter how much we understand that none survives, we’re all still wired to fight for life. And no matter how much we understand the life’s evanesce, we’re all still wired to hold on to happiness.

As such, it’s natural to give pain a purpose by calling our hardships “learning experiences.” In fact, the judgement that prods and pokes is full (in ways) of tons of hope: this can feel better if we do better.

Still, the line is as fine as a razor,  a teeter-totter between the judgement that keeps us growing and the gratitude that keeps us going.
Amongst the pull for pleasure and the surrender to grief,  the hope for something better, and the languor of longing, the heart holds the knowing:

It’s all a natural part of living.

So chin up, my love-

let’s keep singing.

It’s not always easy being human, but it sure does help to sing through it! In a mix of music, metaphor, and ecology, every song and story affirms the heart of our nature through all of life’s weather and wonders.

Hear More Love Songs to Our Nature

In trying times, I look to the world around me for reflections to keep my heart going, then I anchor them in little ditties. Check it out:

Little Ditties

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