My Biophilic Life

As I was walking through the woods today to the post office to pick up my mail, I realized it was 2 years ago today that our landlady knocked on our door to our condo we were renting in West L.A. to tell us she and her husband decided to move into the unit we lived in. She gave us two months to move out. As you know the world was about to dramatically change in about a month from then. I’m sure our story was just one of millions — stories how our life was affected, if not changed, at so many levels in our lives. Who would have thought?!

Having lived in our weekend-home-turned-primary-residence in the mountains for 2 full years now, I’m so aware that we still don’t know what life is to bring in the coming months and years despite my effort to have some modicum of plans and goals. Whether we continue to live in this mountains is still being questioned everyday in my mind.

What I know for myself is that I love being able to put on my shoes and get to the woods to connect with the trees, the birds, the bushes, the bunnies, the squirrels, and many other beings. I love being able to touch the earth — how moist the earth feels after the snowfall and how dry it quickly gets. AND I also loved the fact that I could hop on my bike and get to the beach in the morning when I lived on the Westside. I would go sit on the sand to meditate, often take my shoes off to walk on the edge of the waves.

I’m currently studying to get a new accreditation called, Living Future Accreditation (LFA), governed by International Living Future Institute, whose mission is “ to lead the transformation toward a civilization that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative” and they are “premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world.” They certify buildings and communities that are created or transformed to reflect their mission. One of their big element is “biophilia.” It is a term that are relatively new but certainly gaining some recognition to be a buzz word. While I’m not versed enough to write a theses, it just means “love of life,” “connection to nature,” and “our innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes.” There’s a ton of studies done now on how having access to nature helps the general wellbeing.

All this to say that the last two years many people including ourselves ended up moving to somewhere where “nature” is readily available to connect with although nature is still there in the cities. Yet I think the disconnect in urban life does exacerbate the sense of isolation and frustration. So it keeps me asking myself where I’m going in my life both literally and figuratively. Then again, I’m trusting the process as I always have, and we’re all part of this big tapestry of mysteries, and it only brings me back to this moment right here.

#YouCanSitWithMe

Mindfulness Meditation Practice Group

Every Friday 12PM~12:45PM

Register here to join.