You may have noticed that we like nature here at Sastun Associates and Kansas City Couples Therapy. The photos on our websites and Instagram are almost exclusively plant-based. We are into growth. During the past month, I’ve been able to immerse myself in some nature-based experiences with insights I’d like to share with you as I encourage you to take advantage of these beautiful autumn days to get outside yourself.
On my bucket list has been to make a visit to President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, D.C. I’d read about this summer home of Lincoln’s and had really wanted to make the trip. I was able to go last month. What I had was an amazing experience, especially with the self-paced (with audio tour), Lincoln’s Wild Home, which for me operated as a mindfulness practice. As I walked the grounds, I learned that a wealthy family had built this beautiful home in this pastoral setting just 3 miles north of the White House. After their daughter died, they moved and the US government obtained the space to established a retired soldiers’ home. Presidents before Lincoln had used the home as a place of respite as did Lincoln during the Civil War. Similar to the original family, Lincoln came to the home in grief after his young son had died. As I walked the grounds which now house both a retirement home for veterans and spaces for school children, I imagined all of these families finding solace in the midst of life, loss, and war. Just down the hill from this cottage is a national cemetery where Lincoln could hear funeral services every day for soldiers killed in the war. Lincoln spent the last night of his life at this cottage on a Friday evening before he went to Ford’s Theater to see a play the next day. As I listened to the audio guide, I was encouraged to touch the Osage Orange tree just east of the home. It was a huge tree which exuded a sense of tremendous permanence. As I walked, I had the same view that Lincoln had, I could touch some of the same trees that he touched, and my feet traveled on some of the same soil. Nature is transcendent.
In universal alignment, I’ve been reading, Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. My very good friend, author and workshop leader, Barb Bodengraven, had sent me the book a while back. (She also has a great nature based Instagram @thesacredshed). Then it was selected as the KU Common Book this year so I’ve been reading it along with my students. Writer Elizabeth Gilbert referred to the book as “a hymn of love to the world.” Indeed it is. Each chapter is a meditation on our relationship to nature. As a couples and family therapist, I was stunned to learn that when we put our hands in humus (that’s really good soil), oxytocin is released. This is that same attachment hormone released when we are cuddling our babies and our lovers. It really is our Mother Earth. When we enhance our personal experience with nature, the beneficial bond grows.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that during the pandemic many people became “plant parents.” Visits to national parks soared. Folks just naturally gravitated to nature for comfort. See if you can get outside at least a little bit every day during autumn. Take your family and, if possible, your pet with you. Touch some trees, take photos of some flowers and birds, and listen to the sounds of fall. I know it’ll do your spirit good.