Belonging
I just spent seven full days outdoors sleeping in a tent sheltered by a walnut tree in the woods of Santa Cruz Mountains last week. This was a retreat for the Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy program I have been a part of. What is “eco-chaplaincy,” you may ask. The course description says, “This program offers basic Buddhist training in the wisdom and skill needed to be a Buddhist Environmental Chaplain, i.e., those who work to establish people in a healthy, compassionate, and mutually supportive relationship with the natural world.” I have been trying to define what this means for me, and I’m just starting to see how this can bridge my practice and my business after being in the program for 8 months.
The course certainly has provided me with so much new information and perspectives, which is both inspiring as well as overwhelming. The issues we’re looking into are so deep and complex that I need so much more space and time to truly digest and absorb, so I’m still feeling quite inept to articulate all the thoughts and ideas that are swirling around in my mind. But I’m trusting, as my teacher Gil assured me, that I am being led on this mysterious path.
So I knew I was guided when I was contacted by someone on Instagram about two months ago asking where I was practicing my real estate business. It turns out this was a community of real estate professionals out of Portland, Oregon and expanding across the country and beyond called, “Latitude, Regenerative Real Estate.” Unlike typical real estate agents, these were the people whose purpose was to change the way we look at our built environment and the business of real estate to promote a lifestyle that helps to make positive impact on Earth. As you can imagine, this resonated with me deeply AND seemed like the perfect vehicle for me to bridge eco-chaplaincy and my work.
As I spent 7 days under the sun and starry sky, listening to the birds, mingling with the friendly and whimsical goat of the land, Kodi, and feeling the sea breeze on our bare skin, I got to viscerally sense that we “belong” to this earth just as the trees, plants and all the beings who shared this land. It reminds me to tread mindfully as I continue to follow the path as guided on this journey. And we shall see where it leads me in the coming days, weeks, months and years.