How The Earth Loves Me

TEAGAN KIRKEY-MANNING

My greatest love is with the Earth – it is pure, innocent and always reciprocated.

It can never be taken from me; it will never leave me.

From sleeping under the stars, my bare feet on the warm sand, and the smell of spring after a long winter.

I play in her oceans, dance in her rain and wander through her forests.

Her vastness lulls my anxiety and sparks childlike wonder.

And when I find myself questioning the point of it all, I look to her stars and I think of the stories she tells, from the story of Cygnus’ selflessness to Laelaps’ commitment.

She teaches me lessons — to embrace the unknown, climb over mountains and how to adjust my sails to bear the rough waves.

She teaches me kindness, forgiveness, and how to be delicate. Letting her flowers grow back each season with perseverance and bloom with grace.

She changes and grows with me.

There is always an expression of our connection.

When I find the perfect place to sit amongst the trees or when I sit in the shallow part of the lake and let the fishes say hello to me.

She reminds me that beauty is often found in the simplest of things — like how intricately alive the world is around me. The way the birds sing and the way the seasons dance.

And she shows me the beauty within me.

The elements of my body were formed in stars. The magic that takes away my breath on a clear night, is the same magic within me.

Her existence is a reminder of persistent bonds. She acts as evidence of how my features and personality have been loved for centuries; my mother’s humor and my father’s eyes. I am generations of my ancestors’ love and hard work.

She doesn’t worry about what we think of her, or what’ll happen tomorrow. Her sun will still rise and her moon will still shine.

My greatest love is with the Earth because she taught me how to be myself, and I will study the land and the sea in hopes of giving back just a small part of what she gave me.