Whether we tend to hide away from minus twenty Fahrenheit outdoors or bolt as political stews boil over and douse the gas stove's flame, life's experiences offer us choices. Lest we freeze our hearts solid long before they quit beating, or disappear to a solitary planet, a choice always worth considering is simply to engage. Maybe we choose to do it sporadically, so as to save our more confident selves to carry on with our other responsibilities. Pushing our boundaries in an obsessive ALWAYS can push us past health, even past optimism, because beyond our boundaries is where we are likely to experience anxiety, failure, pain. But we can choose to push and return, push and return, experiencing also an exhilaration when boundaries reveal themselves not nearly as solid as we thought. So today let's celebrate wise words from two writers on Substack, Jenny O'Connell and Karen Auvinen, who fit so well under my Positive News for People-and-Planet theme.

A fellow mountain westerner, Karen's reminder can help thaw the frozen or cool the over-heated. So many of my Acoustic Burro posts share examples of people working for the beyond-the-human planet, but Karen's "meditation on all things wild" brings the planet's gifts to humans. "...I have stalked the woods near my home—here and on Overland Mountain—and gotten to know the animals and plant beings with whom I share life, as part of my daily meditation, as part of my daily prayer.

It is enough to notice and wonder.

How the world would change if every one did this one simple thing."

When we get caught up in worrying whether we are doing "enough", a meditation like this reminds us how the planet doesn't quantify its beauty or nourishment, but offers it all in abundance, in dynamic rather than static equilibrium. We can quit counting, quit the compulsion for efficiency, and let the planet fill us. We can return home.

OH today's wind blows. The feeder sparrows lift and hover, lean into it, then adjust their wings and slide into the pine's winking needles.

Jenny O'Connell lives in my original homeland, along the ocean's repetitive push and return, bringing sand dollars to shore and sea urchins to hungry gulls. She recently offered a Maine-ah's practical plan to build our capacity for pushing, a practice she does with her sister (a buddy is key, for sharing that exhilaration) for one hour a week. Not intimidating, this small commitment leaves 167 hours a week for all our usual necessities, like mailing my mother chocolate because her independent living facility has decided to quit offering dessert at supper. The Empower Hour comes with a step-by-step recipe and optional links to find your choice of engagements, and if you love spreadsheets, an example for tracking your experiments. What fun to connect with my randomly assigned college roommate from decades ago as a buddy, and as a way to dive into the river's flow. Our hearts are beating, and we've gladly given each other this gift of aliveness.

Click on the hyperlinks above to join forces with the world's oceans, and then return to rest on her mountains.