Weaving Spirituality Through Daily Life

Embrace the Little Things

Sunrise on my daily walk

Embrace the little things.

—saying inside a Dove chocolate wrapper

Hello, Friends,

Happy New Year! Before I reflect on the first lesson I learned from my Year of Spiritual Thinking project, I want to say thank you.

Thank you for subscribing to Practicing Terraphilia. Thank you for reading and commenting and engaging with the idea and process of strengthening our bond with this earth and all the lives with whom we share the planet.

A year ago, there were 904 of you subscribing; that number has more than doubled to 1,871 subscribers! Special thank you to those who contribute financial support. I am honored by your belief in my work and your choice to encourage me this way.

Exercising our terraphilia muscles matters because it reconnects us to the wider community that sustains humanity: life on this planet. That connection, that bond gives us the impetus and materials to grow and thrive, to heal our own wounds and nurture our creativity. Our cell-deep affiliation for Earth and its web of life not only sustains us personally, it can help us act as our best selves in these scary times of climate change, wars, terrorism and inhumanity of all sorts.

Spirituality is Inseparable from Daily Life

I had no idea of what to expect when I began the Year of Spiritual Thinking project on Winter Solstice of 2023. I simply wanted to explore my homegrown, earth-based spiritual practices and the practices of my Celtic and Scandinavian ancestors and use what I learned to grow and deepen my relationship with earth and spirit.

The biggest and, I think, most consequential lesson from this year of bringing my beliefs and practices into conscious thought seems obvious, but is easily forgotten: spirituality is not separate from everyday life. It doesn’t happen only on Sunday or some other day designated as holy. In its truest, most uplifting form, spirituality is woven through our daily lives, informing even the most quotidian details of our existence.

How can we achieve that lofty aim? One way is to embrace the little things, the details that make up the substance of who we are. The moments of joy and beauty and openness, of grief and relief and laughter and love, of awakening and calm, of confusion and connection and relationship and reciprocity. Those everyday moments shape who we are. Not grand gestures or glittery accomplishments.

It could just be Santa and the flamingo sleigh, offering a moment of shared laughter.

We are what we do, what we take in, what we give out.

To embrace those small but powerful moments, we have to be aware.

We have to pause our busyness, put down our devices, drop our masks, be open to the unknown and unexpected, and breathe.

We have to be prepared to be astonished as Mary Oliver writes in “Sometimes”:

3.

Instructions for living a life:

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it.

I would have missed the heart-filing moment in the video above if I had been walking with my airPods on, listening to music or an audiobook. The sandhill cranes flew directly overhead, so low that you can hear the whistle of their wing feathers.

Here’s a way to practice being aware and embracing the moment:

Stop doing and notice your breathing:

As you inhale, feel the oxygen filling your lungs, diffusing through their membranes and into your blood, where those oxygen molecules are transported through your heart and out to the farthest reaches of your capillaries and into your cells to become part of you.

As you exhale, envision a favorite plant, a minute photosynthesizing plankton or a green algae, and say “Thank you for the oxygen that gives me life. I return the gift with the carbon dioxide I exhale.”

In that moment, you’re practicing gratitude and also engaging in a reciprocal relationship with the green and photosynthesizing beings who are our breathing buddies, exhaling the oxygen we inhale, and inhaling the carbon dioxide we and our industrial processes exhale.

That’s a lot packed into a breath. Do it again, slowly, savoring the oxygen, the plants and photosynthesizing microbes, the carbon dioxide you exhale, the feeling of engaging in reciprocity. Feel the way you become part of the life and lives around you.

All in two breaths! Which is a good reminder of how much wonder, nourishment and connection with the sacredness that is this existence are packed in even the smallest moments of our lives.

Sunset behind the nearby Target store, a moment of beauty among the trash dumpsters….

What’s Ahead

Next week, I’ll talk about other ways to integrate spirituality into our daily lives, including my word of the year: cherish.

What’s your word for 2025? Hit the comment button below and let us know, plus why you chose that particular word.

In the coming year, I’m going experiment with some new forms of practicing terraphilia including regular video posts to share moments from my dawn walks and other parts of my day. And perhaps launching a quarterly book discussion where we could explore books on nature and spirituality together. Is that something you’d be interested in? If so, hit that comment button! (Book suggestions are welcome too.)

What I’m listening to: This incredible performance by wildly creative British multi-instrumentalist and singer Jacob Collier, with Chris Martin of Coldplay, singing Martin’s beloved song, “Fix You.” Collier sings the first verse on his own, and Martin joins him to the second, sharing a piano bench and mic like two kids finding joy in each other’s music. During the final third of the song, Collier conducts the 15,000-person audience in London’s O2 Arena like a giant chorus. It’s just magic.

New Substacks that might inspire you:

HerStories from Story Circle Network, on writing from our lives, including writing craft lessons, inspiration from our days, and other goodies.

From the Smokey Side of the Fire by Amy Hale, life through the eyes of a cowboy, poet and lover of the land who lives and works in the wild Arizona uplands.

Blessings to you all!