A New Earth

Ok, so I know I may be getting a little ahead of myself, but I began reading Eckhart Tolle's sequel to The Power of Now, it is called A New Earth, it has been quite a hit, since Oprah chose it for her book club and did a series on online tutorials with Tolle.

The book is beautifully written, and I find it much easier to assimilate, and somehow gentler than PON, although I am still glad I read PON first because it gives a great grounding in the subject. A New Earth is more focused on how to bring the power of now into your day to day life.

The book begins beautifully with a passage on the importance of flowers. Tolle writes that their inherent beauty is due to their impermanence, which allows the brightness of their being to shine through. I love this concept, and it is definitely true that flowers are at their most beautiful and breathtaking when you just observe them, as opposed to labelling them and thinking about them. With that in mind, my camping trip in Sussex Monday and Tuesday took on a new light.

I would like to say that the trip was 48 hours of mindfulness, with no thinking, and a wonderful sense of being, and communing with nature, and in a way that's true....but it isn't the whole truth!

Bean and I forgot a watch, and decided not to bring a phone, this lead to a great sense of freedom, and complete lack of thinking about time, (try counting how many times you look at a clock in a day, how many of those are necessary?). We also spent about an hour on the second day walking in silence. I spent this time focusing on being aware, and observing the beautiful birch forests, the ground littered with bracken, and the occasional babbling brook. This was a beautiful experience and I truly felt the life of the forest in the vibrant greens of the leaves and the damp mosses on the trees. I must admit that I kept singing to myself, I just could not get this song out of my head (I can't even remember what it was now), but that was a gentle reminder of just how in control my mind is -- there is definitely a need for practise! When the song receded, even for a second or two, or when I stopped paying attention to the song, that was when I felt the beauty of the forest most strongly.

The silent walking especially and the whole trip in general was a revitalising and refreshing experience, and I can honestly say I have never seen as much beauty in a cow, a sheep, or a fallen tree trunk than I did whilst focusing on observing them, not labelling them. I also learned to navigate properly which is such a relief as I have lots of adventures planned in the near future for which it will be an indispensable skill. Watch this space!