Wild Comfort

by Judith F Kennedy, PhD

We need it now. Some soothing, some comfort, some grace from a world that seems at times to have gone mad. The killing of innocent children, politicians who can’t come together,  natural disasters like hurricane Sandy and the oil spill, Syria , a senseless shooting of innocent people by a disgruntled employee, all of this reminds us that we must take care of each other and nourish our relationships, the innocent animals and beings who depend on us and our fragile planet.

Kathleen Dean Moore has written an incredible book called Wild Comfort. After experiencing a year of despair, sorrow and loss she turned to the rhythms of nature in order to make sense of that loss. In her travels to the desert, forests and oceans, she observed the life around her – the birdsong, the beetles, the cry of a loon, a feather brushed by the breeze – and she wrote. The result is a book of essays which are full of grace and filled with wisdom; a book of meditation about the seasons and cycles of the earth and the living creatures who inhabit it. Such a title, such grace. After reading it today, I left everything on my desk just as it was. I made my way  outside almost as if I was answering a prayer. Sitting on my front porch here deep in the woods on the Cape, I was comforted beyond measure. The birds were out in droves, butterflies too. Is there anything more innocent than a bird, a little chickadee, deciding to honor me with its presence here on my front porch. Bella my chihuahua, sits on my lap, leaning into me with her small warmth. All of us drinking in the holiness of this present moment, this place.

In some way this very personal, intimate book is able to connect our emotions with the wonder of the natural world. Jane Hirschfield says about this book: “In its grounded wisdoms, humility, curiosity, and in the kaleidoscope beauty of its descriptions, Wild Comfort reminds how to see, how to sing; how to welcome, with equal gravity and grace, whatever asks entrance into our lives. It is destined to become a classic.”

I am overcome by gratitude for this book, a reminder of the comfort and refuge there is in wild natural places. Like the grace of the moon sliding out from the clouds on a dark night.

You must read it.