From the Outside with Sarah C

Send us a textMy podcast programming this year is simple – love letters to nature. I invite you to join me in this collaborative project to reweave ourselves to the natural world and each other.  Share your love letters with me at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com and I will read your loving words to nature on my podcast. How does nature make you feel, how does she sustain you, support you, inspire you, excite you? Read your letters to nature and listen for a response. What wisdom does she offer you? As we profess our deep love and gratitude to our source of life, let us deepen our sense of place, purpose, and belonging.This month, I welcomed the bountiful blooms of yarrow, wand flower, coreopsis, lavender, milkweed, rue, bachelor buttons, and daisies. My family and I filled our bellies with fresh-picked, strawberry sweetness. I harvested my first blueberries from my garden and sat under the most vivid rainbow right outside my front door after an evening of severe weather. Listen as I read my May love letter to nature. What moments of joy, love, and gratitude did nature offer you in May?

Send us a textIn Season 3, my podcast programming is simple – love letters to nature. I invite you to join me in this collaborative project to reweave ourselves to the natural world and each other.  Share your love letters with me at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com and I will read your loving words to nature on my podcast. How does nature make you feel? How does she sustain you, support you, inspire you, excite you? Read your letters to nature and listen for a response. What wisdom does she offer you? As we profess our deep love and gratitude to our source of life, let us deepen our sense of place, purpose, and belonging.This month, I welcomed the wisdom of the early spring ephemerals, met Aunt Lucy, a wildflower growing amongst the Paw Paw trees, saw my first butterflies and celebrated the first, sweet strawberry harvest of the season! Listen in as I read my April love letter to nature. What moments of joy, love, and gratitude did nature offer you in April?

Send us a textIn Season 3, my podcast programming this year is simple – love letters to nature. I invite you to join me in this collaborative project to reweave ourselves to the natural world and each other.  Share your love letters with me at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com and I will read them on my podcast. How does nature make you feel, how does she sustain you, support you, inspire you, excite you. Share your letters with nature and listen for a response. What wisdom does she offer you? As we profess our deep love and gratitude to our source of life, let us deepen our sense of place, purpose, and sense of belonging.This month, I welcomed the Spring Equinox and the transition from potential energy to kinetic energy in the natural world.  Plants are emerging from their restful state, pollinators have returned blissfully buzzing and fluttering around the garden, and even my own body is transitioning to a new season of growth. Listen in as I read my March love letter to nature. What moments of joy, love, and gratitude did nature offer you in March?

Send us a textIn Season 3, my podcast programming this year is simple – love letters to nature. I invite you to join me in this collaborative project to reweave ourselves to the natural world and each other.  Share your love letters with me at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com and I will read your loving words to nature on my podcast. How does nature make you feel, how does she sustain you, support you, inspire you, excite you? Read your letters to nature and listen for a response. What wisdom does she offer you? As we profess our deep love and gratitude to our source of life, let us deepen our sense of place, purpose, and sense of belonging. This month, I leaned into the mid-winter mood swings of nature that brought sunshine, snowfall, and stiff breezes. I sat with the small seasonal shift within myself as I noticed the ground beginning to wake up.  Listen in as I read my February love letter to nature. What moments of joy, love, and gratitude did nature offer you in February? 

Send us a textWe are living in unbelievably uncertain times. Many of us are feeling a deep sense of grief and loss – for humanity and our beloved planet. As I tend my own grief and hold the collective grief of others, I lean into nature, her comfort and wisdom. If we lean into our grief, we feel its entanglement with love. They are intertwined. Love is the wellspring from which we experience joy, gratitude, and grief.  It grows from our profound presence and awareness. Love is the most authentic and creative state of being.  In love, we recognize or “see” each other in a state of deep acknowledgement. In turn, we kindle our circle of belonging and kinship – to nature, to ourselves, and to each other.  What we love we honor and protect, deepening the authentic relationships with others that soothe and support us in times of sorrow. In Season 3, my podcast programming this year is simple – love letters to nature. I invite you to join me in this collaborative project to reweave ourselves to the natural world and each other.  Share your love letters with me at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com and I will read your loving words to nature on my podcast. How does nature make you feel, how does she sustain you, support you, inspire you, excite you? Read your letters to nature and listen for a response. What wisdom does she offer you? As we profess our deep love and gratitude to our source of life, let us deepen our sense of place, purpose, and sense of belonging. This month, I leaned into the still, slow, dark days of winter and connected to snow, songbirds, and a stunning winter sky. Listen in as I read my January love letter to nature. What moments of joy, love, and gratitude did nature offer you in January?

Send us a textQuiet, hush, cold, dark, isolation.  This is the tundra in winter. The cacophony of the raucous raven. The dark, dotted silhouettes soaring against the winter white landscape. The oscillation of the ocean. Sometimes it is rowdy. Sometimes, it is silent as it shifts slowly from the sway and swirl of its liquid state to its fixed, frozen form. The teachings of the tundra landscape are transformative.  Listen, learn, and practice as we tap into the wisdom of the awe-inspiring Arctic tundra. 

Send us a textThe boisterous buzzing of insects beckons us to the meadow. The grasses and other flora wave to welcome us to their world. The openness of the meadow emboldens us to open our mind and our heart. The discernible, seasonal changes fully connect us to follow the rhythms and cycles of nature. Let the magic of the meadow arouse your curiosity and creativity. Listen, learn, and practice in this Episode 24 as we explore the magical meadow landscape. 

The desert landscape – armored, arid, and alive! The spectacular species of succulents, copious collections of cacti, and prolific populations of scented sagebrush and lush lavender are captivating.  Equally as engaging, is the curious, caliginous crust that conceals the colorful, terra cotta soil. The cryptobiotic soil crust of the desert landscape appears barren, but upon a closer look, is a biological bounty of organisms that nourish and protect desert flora.  The desert landscape leaves us both exposed and enamored in its beauty.  Listen in to this Episode 23 as we tap into the delight and discernment of the desert! 

Big, bucket list, backyard or small, porch-sized, container growing, a garden cultivates joy, empathy, gratitude, and a sense of purpose. It grows our connection to the circle of life and the rhythms and cycles of nature as we witness each stage – germination, growth, fruition, death, and decomposition. Tending a garden nourishes our bodies, our senses, and our soul. Listen, learn, and practice as I dig deeper into all the insights a garden landscape has to share!  

Stepping into the forest is an exquisite exhale. The raw reverberation of nature. The saturation of scent and sound soothes my soul.  The collective calls of the forest birds beckon me into their world. Cocooned below the canopy cover, the bulwark of branches bolsters me in its being and beauty. The algid air is pungent and profuse with the earthy fragrance of fungi and decaying organic matter. With each breath, the vaporous veil of volatile compounds emitted from the trees as they transpire steeps into my cells, invigorating my immune system and strengthening my spirit.  What does the Forest Landscape offer us when we immerse ourselves within it? In this Episode 21, listen, learn, and practice in as I tap into the ancient wisdom and wonder of this enchanted ecosystem. 

In this episode 20, I explore the element of Water!  Water – the liquid of life. It is a shapeshifter – snow, rain, sleet, ice, steam. It can wreak havoc and fear through raging flood, tide, or current. The sounds of its gentler form can soothe us into a state of relaxation, rest, and renewal.  Join me and let us tap into the waves of Water wisdom together!  Listen, learn, and practice how to better go with the flow! 

In this episode 19, Fire Element, I explore the element of Fire!  Although an uncontrolled burn in nature can lead to large scale devastation and loss, low-intensity, controlled fire is an important element in natural systems. It promotes renewal, regeneration, and growth. In its heat, energy, and ignition, the fiery properties of volcanic activity create a solid, fertile foundation to our planet.  Listen learn, and practice as I explore and ponder how we can use the warmth of the Fire element to guide and manage our own fiery passion and intensity to light up our purpose and path!  

In this episode 18, Air Element, I explore the element of air – its composition and its movement. I ponder global wind patterns, tornadoes, hurricanes, even the Northern Lights and examine what these atmospheric events can teach us. From the lightness of summer breezes to the unpredictable winds of change, listen, learn, and practice as we breathe in the wisdom of the Air Element. 

In Season 2 of From the Outside with Sarah C, we explore the theme, The Numinous Nature of Nature.  Beginning with the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, and moving on to explore the diverse ecosystems and landscapes of our beautiful planet. I ponder the mysterious, the profound, and the sacred within the natural world of which we are an integral part. How can our purposeful and intentional connection to the elements and unique landscapes deepen our connection to nature and our authentic self? What can we learn and what wisdom can we gain when we observe mindfully and tap into the form and function of each element and ecosystem? I encourage you to continue to listen in!  In this episode 17, Earth Element, we will tap into the wisdom of the Earth element and discover what it means to be grounded. Listen, learn, and practice!

In this episode 16, we conclude our examination into the Fairy Circle model, a means of cultivating a more  purposeful and intentional relationship with nature. In this episode,  we explore the ultimate connection to the natural world, ourselves, and each other – our sense of Belonging.   It is in our deep relationship with our authentic self where we discover our purpose, acknowledge our unique place in the Universe, and cultivate our connections with others from an open heart-space filled with gratitude, love, joy, wonder, beauty, peace, and awe.  How do we grow our sense of belonging? One way is through deepening our relationship with nature.  We can explore and tap into our feelings and emotions without judgement.  As we deepen our relationship to our authentic self through nature, we cultivate our confidence in who we are, why we are here, and what is our purpose. We grow our sense of Belonging to ourselves, to others, and to the greater collective.  Listen, learn , and practice as I explore the BIG connection of Belonging.  Join me in 2024 and Season 2 as I explore connecting to nature's elements and landscapes! 

In this episode 15, we continue to discover our deeper connections, belowground, from our ring of visible mushrooms, our seven fruiting bodies of feelings and emotions beauty, joy, love, gratitude, wonder, awe, and peace. Here,  we find our interconnectedness – kinship, harmony, and balance.  We also unearth our sense of belonging, purpose, and part in the natural world.  In this episode, I explore Purpose.Like each living  organism and non-living element in the natural world, each of us is unique and significant in our place in the larger system. In addition to the parts we “play” in our daily life, our purpose is also found in our function – the creative lens though which we view and connect with the world around us, our unique, inspired movement through life, and our significant place, the space we take up and experiences we share with others in the Universe. Our Purpose lies deep within us and can be unearthed as we discover our strengths, values, passions, feelings, and emotions.  Listen, learn, and practice as I explore Purpose in humans and the natural world. 

In this episode 14, we continue to discover our deeper connections, belowground, from our ring of visible mushrooms, our seven fruiting bodies of feelings and emotions - beauty, joy, love, gratitude, wonder, awe, and peace. Here, we find our interconnectedness - kinship, harmony, and balance.   In this episode, I explore Balance in the context of the human relationship with the smaller ecological systems of order -  community, population, species, and individual organism.  I propose the following question -  How  does the dis-integration of humans, a prolific and pervasive population, and our autonomy from these smaller systems of nature, create imbalance and instability, both in nature and in ourselves?   Biological communities and humans can cultivate characteristics that support health and stability. Complexity reinforces resilience and balance.  Listen, learn, and practice as I explore how we can restore our relationship with nature, and balance within ourselves through honoring the complexity of the natural world, conceding to the unknown, and cultivating our sense of kinship with the world around us. 

In this episode 13, we continue to discover our deeper connections, belowground from our ring of visible mushrooms, our seven fruiting bodies of feelings and emotions beauty, joy, love, gratitude, wonder, awe, and peace. Here, we find our interconnectedness – kinship, harmony, and balance.  In this episode, I explore Harmony, including the role of humans in agreement and integration with nature, within the bigger picture of Earth's larger systems and from the lens of scientific knowledge.  Healthy, natural systems are harmonious, balanced, and resilient to perturbations or disturbances. In addition, there is diversity and abundance. Everything in nature is connected to everything else.  The human species has dis-integrated from nature.  Our planet is in a state of global scale disharmony and humans have played a big role in creating the chaos. Listen, learn, and practice as I explore how we can restore harmony to our natural world and to ourselves. 

In this episode 12, we begin to dive deeper, belowground from our ring of visible mushrooms that create our fairy circle, to find harmony and balance, and unearth our sense of belonging, purpose, and part.  It is here where we cultivate Kinship. We are all connected – we are made of the same elements, just put together in different ways. The meaning of kinship is as varied as the bonds between the elements that create us. Kinship can refer to our blood relatives – those with whom we share our DNA. It extends to our friends or adoptive family. In the circle of life, we are kin to all that surrounds us – nature, living and non-living. We are an integral part, in form and function, with a larger system. Each of us is a ripple in a bigger pool.  In natural systems, everything is dependent on everything else. As a species,  we have lost our sense of kinship with the natural world - its systems, rhythms, and cycles.  We have become autonomous and separated from our source of life and nature's wisdom. We are independent without interdependence.  How do we reconnect to our source of life? How do shift our perspective to heal our environment? How do we honor our source and kin who share this space and time on our beautiful planet? Listen and learn as we explore Kinship through my thoughts, stories, writing, and practice.

In this episode 11, we discover another mushroom of our fairy circle, the fruiting bodies of feelings and emotions that help us to cultivate and deepen our relationship with nature and ourselves.  In this episode, I am exploring Peace.  In cultivating a feeling of peace through nature, we have a space to return to when life becomes chaotic and we feel as though we are hanging by a thin, frayed thread.  The feeling of peace expands us to receive more readily the wisdom nature offers us – our channels are clear, and we are fully open to observe and accept nature's signs and signals.  We can easily access our feelings and emotions and effortlessly tap into our thoughts to process in response to our observations.  Listen and learn as I explore Peace through my writing, stories, and practice!

In this episode 10, I explore another fruiting body of feeling and emotion in the fairy circle model of purposeful and intentional connection to nature -  Gratitude.  Gratitude is the anchoring feeling or emotion. It roots us deeply to our source of life. All fruiting bodies of emotions – beauty, joy, love, wonder, awe, and peace connect us to gratitude. In turn, Gratitude helps us to cultivate the deepest connection to what is below the surface. It helps us to expand our interconnectedness to others, creating deeper, more meaningful relationships, as well as, find harmony, balance, kinship, and our sense of belonging and purpose – our magic. These are deeply rooted connections that help us to unearth our authentic self and grow our best life.  Listen and learn as I share my stories, writing, and practice to encourage our connection to gratitude!

In this episode 9, we discover another mushroom of our fairy circle, the fruiting bodies of feelings and emotions that help us to cultivate and deepen our relationship with nature and ourselves.  In this episode, I explore Awe. Awe is a powerful emotion,  a truly raw, visceral, reaction – completely overwhelming -in joy, in fear, or in disbelief.  It is a feeling of astonishment, horror, or reverence, but does not always spark curiosity like wonder.  Awe leaves me awash in a slurry of emotion – gratitude, joy, and disbelief, rooted so firmly in the present moment and in my deep connection to the Universe.  Join me in this episode 9 as I explore Awe through my stories, writing and practice.

In this episode 8, Wonder, we explore another mushroom of our fairy circle, the fruiting bodies of feelings and emotions that help us to cultivate and deepen our relationship with nature and ourselves.  Inspired by this unique and magical phenomenon found in the natural world, I have created a model, or means in which, we as humans, can connect more purposefully and intentionally with nature.  Within our interactions with the natural world, wonder is a feeling of pure, profound connection, an unadulterated “Ah Ha” moment, a boundless feeling of belonging. It sparks our curiosity and arouses our awareness to our place in the Universe.  It is a child-like lens that renews our perspective. Listen and learn as I explore Wonder through storytelling, writing, and practice. 

In this episode 7, Love, we explore another mushroom of our fairy circle, the fruiting bodies of feelings and emotions that help us to cultivate and deepen our relationship with nature and ourselves.  Love.. that's a big one! An infinite, intense, indescribable, impassioned, implicit emotion. Love is immeasurable in its forms and inexhaustible in its intensity.  For some, love may seem inaccessible.  Love begins deep within ourselves. It begins in unearthing our often-buried voice, talents, and gifts. It begins with cultivating our authentic self, our soul, our voice, our essence. We can grow through our dark layers and more fully and authentically love those that share our garden of life. Listen and learn as we deepen our loving relationship to ourselves and others through nature. 

In this episode 6, Joy, we explore another mushroom of our fairy circle, the fruiting bodies of feelings and emotions that help us to cultivate and deepen our relationship with nature and ourselves.  Much of our foundational relationship with nature germinates from our childhood experiences, the landscapes with which we were exposed to as children, and the sum of our scientific knowledge about natural systems and how they work.  Growing up with a gardener mother and an outdoor adventure- seeking father,  joy has been easy for me to find in nature, whether alone or with others.  What if we do not have a childhood steeped in experiences with the natural world?  What if our access was limited due to our circumstances?  It is never too late cultivate a rich relationship with nature! Listen in as I explore finding joy in nature through my writing and storytelling and share a simple practice to uncover joy.

In this episode 5, Beauty, I begin to explore the mushrooms of our fairy circle, the fruiting bodies of feelings and emotions that help us to cultivate and deepen our relationship with nature and ourselves.  In this week's episode, we will discover beauty.  I think it is the easiest feeling or emotion to experience in nature, but often the most difficult to embrace within ourselves.  Natural systems are beautiful in every stage – germination, birth, growth, death, decomposition – the entire life cycle.  It is all part of the artistry of life – raw, unfiltered, naked beauty.  In so much of modern culture, humans have grown to appreciate beauty selectively. There are parameters, standards, expectations, and filters.  Each one of us, connecting wholly with nature, can find beauty.  By affirming the beauty we experience in nature – in all of its stages, its rhythms, cycles, and seasons, we can unearth and embrace our unique beauty and the beauty in others without judgement. 

In this episode 4, The Fairy Circle, l begin to explore the realm of the fairy circle, or fairy ring.  Inspired by this unique and magical phenomenon in nature, I have created a model, or pathway in which we, as humans, can connect more purposefully and intentionally with nature.  In this model and in life, the goal is to connect – more deeply and authentically to nature, to ourselves, and to each other.  I also share a Nature's Rx that helps us to lean into our feelings and Mother Nature.

In this episode, l explore the means by which we can connect with nature purposefully and intentionally - through silence, solitude, and stillness.  Silence quiets us to hear nature's wisdom. Solitude supports and strengthens our connection to our authentic self and our unique relationship with the natural world.  Stillness feeds our intention to seek guidance from the Earth and find acceptance in the powers of creativity that brought us into being.  Listen and learn how to connect more deeply with nature purposefully and intentionally. 

Nature is magic. It jump-starts our joy, cultivates our curiosity, and awakens our awe. To discover (or re-discover) nature's magic, we need to slow down, connect with our whole bodies, and change our perspective.  As we do, our connection deepens-not just to nature, our source of life, but to ourselves as we embrace our purpose and part in the bigger picture.  We unearth our authenticity, fully feel and immerse ourselves in our emotions, and grow our sense of harmony, balance, and belonging.  In this episode, I explore nature's magic through storytelling and my writing. 

Welcome to the first episode of From the Outside with Sarah C! In this episode, I introduce myself, my journey, and my relationship with nature through storytelling and my writing.  Join me on this new adventure!