Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott taking a stroll in the cemetery which is a very tiny little wildlife patch here in my village.
I've been sitting on a bench just overlooking the tall grasses which are swaying in the evening sunshine.
It's been a super hot day today so coming out this evening has been a real blessing and as I was sitting beside this conifer I saw a little tiny bird race up the side of it and it was a brown bird with a white underbelly.
It looked almost like a little mouse scurrying up the tree and it was a tree creeper.
I'm thrilled because the last and only tree creeper that I recall seeing was on my pilgrimage when I walked from Cornwall to Norfolk last year following the energy current so it's been a real delight to see a tree creeper again tonight.
And today's reflection is all about love.
I've just had some news that my uncle,
Who's got a very aggressive form of cancer,
He's moved now into hospice and palliative care,
And he's not very well at all.
And as I came down here to this cemetery and I sat in this spot just overlooking the butterflies and seeing the different insects and the birds just bobbing around in the grasses and the wildflowers that are present here.
I sat with my husband on the bench and we were talking and he said,
You know,
It's all about love.
You know,
Sadness is about love.
Joy is about love.
And I was just reflecting as he was speaking and I thought,
Yes,
Maybe that's true.
Maybe the sadness I feel that my uncle is moving into the final stages of his life,
Maybe that's just an expression of love.
And as I sit here in this space where I see the flowing grasses and the shafts of evening sunlight striking the grassland,
And I just feel this sense of peace and rightness at being here.
I guess,
Again,
That's just a form of love.
It's like love is packaged in different containers and some look more love-like than others.
A tree creeper or a flower or the grasses in the evening sunshine.
That package of love feels as though it really is labelled love.
But sadness,
Is that actually love as well?
I don't know the answer to that.
It's a reflection and I'd love you to gently reflect on that yourself too.
You see,
Ultimately,
I see that the energy behind all of life is love.
When I was on the pilgrimage,
And I'm writing about it at the moment,
I'm very close to publishing my journals that I wrote as I was walking.
And I recall one day I was at a stone circle,
A stone circle in Cornwall which was probably constructed three,
Four,
5,
000 years ago,
I'm not entirely sure,
A long time ago.
And I remember so clearly as I walked around that stone circle,
I felt an energy,
A deep,
Connected energy.
And I realised in that moment that it was all about love.
Everything.
And I feel as though I'm being reminded of that again today.
Love is everywhere.
And this meadow is an expression of love.
The birds are an expression of love.
Life is an expression of love.
Death is an expression of love.
Sadness and grief are expressions of love.
I say this and it feels true for me as I say it.
But I don't want you to take this on as a belief or think that you should think this too.
I'm not saying that this is how you should feel in your life.
I'm exploring this for me in my life.
It's all about love.
All of it.
And it comes in different packages and different forms.
And some love.
Has a sense of expansiveness and openness attached to it.
And some love feels more constricted or scared or sad,
But it's all love.
That is the foundation.
That is what it is all about.
So today,
That's my reflection.
It's all about love.
And I'd love to know your reflections too.
How does that land for you?
What do you feel about it all being about love?
Don't forget I'll be back again tomorrow with another 5 minutes in nature.
And please do send me a message if you're inspired to let me know what you feel about it all being about love.