The Everyday Human

April: On Nature April 27 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from the graphic novel  A. Guardian  by me (Eastin DeVerna). You can try and retrace the steps you took, the paths you chose in your life that led you up to this moment here and now. You can ponder over the what ifs and what could have beens till the cows come home. And while reflection is good, dwelling can sink you into a...

April: On Nature April 26 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from the video game  The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. At what point does your life begin? At your birth? Or the moment your parents met? The moment an ancestor of yours who you’ll never know—one who will never know you—escaped death, fleeing a bear, wearing a helmet in a war, or stopping to pick up their scarf before cr...

April: On Nature April 25 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Ursula K. Le Guin’s  The Tombs of Atuan. We speak often of nature’s serenity and tranquility—it’s ability to heal and comfort. But its darker side—its duality—should be no surprise, for we humans have inherited both edges of this sword. The capacity for love and kindness, and for hostility and indifference. The ability...

April: On Nature April 24 Today's reflection was inspired by the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sara Teasdale. She wakes from the long sleep. One in which she dreamt of blossoms and wind and rivers and soil. The day’s first light falls upon her as she rises from her bed of moss and leaves and she steps forward into the world with nothing to separate her from the air or ground...

April: On Nature April 23 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The mysterious beauty of winter is undeniable, and so too is the fact that it has hardened humans, building resilience and forcing innovation out of necessity.  The cyclical nature of the seasons offers a reminder that the difficult and sparse times will end, but al...

April: On Nature April 22 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Monty Don's book  My Roots: A Decade in the Garden. When you are planting, you are facilitating life. When you are planting, you can forget your contracts to society for a moment or a few hours or a day. In this time, it is you and nature, you and the planet—you have no mortgage or rent or job, you do not have to e...

April: On Nature April 21 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Robert Frost's poem "Birches." In modern times, it is the constant stream of news—of knowing every horrible event happening around the globe the moment it happens, coupled with the daily burdens of being overworked and underpaid, the stress of being responsible for the survival of others, all while battli...

April: On Nature April 20 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from a book near and dear to me because . . . it was written by me: Lux: From the Kingdom of Darkness .  At this time of year, the Viola Sororia, also known as the common blue violet, stand humbly in the shade of the trees on either edge of the creek. They sit quietly on the side of the house and shed displaying their blue-p...

April: On Nature April 19 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from another Yogi teabag.  Despite the damage to humans and everything we’ve built, hurricanes stir and thrash the ocean waters, mixing and redistributing nutrients like a blender, further supporting life that may not have had access to them before. They balance the planet’s temperatures by moving excess heat from the equato...

April: On Nature April 18 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Richard Fortey's book  The Earth: An Intimate History. Our lives are less than the blink of an eye—cosmically speaking. Humanity, too. Here one day, gone the next.  So, what do we do with that? We remind ourselves that everything happening around us—the things in our control and the things we have no agency over—is...

April: On Nature April 17 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from the song "Where Do the Children Play?" by Yusef / Cat Stevens. While there’s something so innately human about a child's ability to play anywhere , they shouldn’t have to play just anywhere.  Even the playgrounds, and while I am grateful that designated areas for children exist, are often lacking imaginat...

April: On Nature April 16 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from N. Scott Momaday's book  Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Land. As bleak as the outlook may be when you look around at the damage we've done to the planet, and at times when despair settles in as you watch the local woodlands get cut down and bulldozed in just a few weeks time, destroying or displacin...

April: On Nature April 15 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Kéramos." Is it any surprise some of the greatest paintings and works of art are interpretations of nature?  We see beauty in the natural world and are compelled by something mysterious within ourselves to replicate it.  We hear the sound of water by a creek or the sea a...

April: On Nature April 14 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Rachel Carson's  The Sense of Wonder. As the work day continues on and the tasks pile up and the personal to-do list gets pushed back, a sort of pressure builds like a tea kettle coming to boil. The screens have taken enough from you for the time being and it's time for you to step away and find your medicine...

April: On Nature April 13 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Wallace Stegner's The Sound of Mountain Water. We are trading in the mystery and beauty of the natural world for trinkets and devices that spike our dopamine for a few moments to days and then are quickly discarded or forgotten about.  We live greater than the kings of old, having virtually any type of food on the...

April: On Nature April 12 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke's L etters to a Young Poet. When lost in life, we often look for road signs, beacons atop a lighthouse, or the North Star to show us the way and guide us home. And the truth is, we just don’t look for these things, we expect them to be posted before our very eyes, to rise out of the ground and bl...

April: On Nature April 11 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Rooted  by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. When the sun retreats, it is then that the house and the world go quiet, it is then that the chaos subsides and the silence enters your mind, then that you can hear the voice of your spirit, your own heartbeat, the blood in your veins.  When the sun retreats, the mind can roam with the ghos...

April: On Nature April 10 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot. When has change or growth ever been simple or painless? Is the scab over your healing wound soft and pleasant, or is it hard and rough, pulling your skin tight beneath it?  And what of overcoming the loss of a loved one? Does emerging through to the other side of it stronger and...

April: On Nature April 9 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from John Lubbock’s The Use of Life . Something happened, and I don’t know when exactly—we can probably point our fingers at those who perpetuate and glorify the hustle culture, even before them, though we’re not here to do that—but something happened where we now believe that if we are not working or being productive every w...

April: On Nature April 8 Welcome to the 100th episode of the Everyday Human! Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Henry David Thoreau's journal. We answer to so many voices. We are controlled by so many things—circumstances, events, and decisions from others. And perhaps most of all, time. But not in the natural sense of time, the kind that is seasonal, rather a human-made ver...

April: On Nature April 7 Today's reflection was inspired by another quote from J.R.R. Tolkien, this time from  The Fellowship of the Ring. There is an important difference between loneliness and solitude. One can be devastating for your mental health, your physical health, and just your overall well-being. While the other can do wonders for your mental health, your physical health, and just y...

April: On Nature April 6 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from one of Vincent van Gogh's letters to his brother, Theo van Gogh. The traps are everywhere, and they’ll snag your arm, trip up your feet, and drop you into the bottomless pit of desire if you’re not careful. They’ll sell you the water that falls from the sky, the opportunity to move your body beneath fluorescent ligh...

April: On Nature April 5 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Maya Angelou's The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou. The mind can be a capricious and unpredictable thing, can't it? Just like the spring weather. There might be an event or obligation in your future that you're dreading. You've gone through the scenario over and over in your mind and you can...

April: On Nature April 4 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Bluebeard's Egg by Margaret Atwood. Something happens inside of us at a certain point, but you can’t hear it or feel it. You don’t even know it’s happening when it does. Somewhere amidst the evolutions of childhood to adolescence to adulthood, a switch is flipped that tells your brain it’s not good to be dirty. Or t...

April: On Nature April 3 Today's reflection was inspired by a quote from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Lord Byron.  Our daily routines are filled to overflowing it feels like, often bursting with work tasks, errands, chores, and maybe some health and wellness activities and relaxation sprinkled in. But how many of us include nature in the daily routine? How many of us make it a point to...