art by Moises Levy

We live in challenging times, but that seems to be the human condition. Wendell Berry, a writer of the natural world, has some beautiful advice for us that I’d like to share today. His poem “The Peace of Wild Things” is a gorgeous ode to the way in which nature heals the agonies of the heart. As we dive into Cancer season this month and the heart is forced open, the beauty of nature can aid in the softening of pain and the blossoming of the soul. 💖

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Thank you to Maria Popova’s wonderful newsletter The Marginalian for always providing inspiration to me so that I can offer it in turn to you. 

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