"Do you enjoy nature? You might not find a sufficient way to express how much you do...Sometimes nature is indescribable. The Japanese word 'yugen' refers to the awareness that the universe is so profound that the emotions we feel when we try to contemplate it are too deep and mysterious to convey." ~ Shundalyn Allen

Good yugen, dear friends!

Instead of saying "Good Morning" or "Good Day," I wish you a day in which your experience of being alive and your connection with nature is so wonderful that it is beyond words!

Imagine such a day. Have you had one recently? Ever? 

This extraordinary feeling may not last a whole day.  It seems likely to last just a few hours or even just a few minutes. 

I'm suddenly remembering the first time Frank and I drove through Oak Creek Canyon from Flagstaff to Sedona. The magnificent beauty of that canyon brought me to tears and left me speechless. I had no word for it then. I do now. 

We can't turn such a profound emotion on and off. But we can increase our chances of knowing yugen by spending time in nature. 

Is there a natural place you can be today? Maybe it's a local park or garden. Maybe it's simply sitting on the grass or lying on a blanket you have spread on the ground.

Let's find such a place and let our gifts of reverence, love, and joy carry us near or all the way to a state of yugen. 

With gratitude and awesome love,
Charlene

THE NINTH GIFT IS REVERENCE: May you appreciate the wonder that you are and the miracle of all creation.  - from The Twelve Gifts of Birth