It seems to me that the natural world is always talking to us, but we human beings, as a species, aren’t very good listeners.

Which is too bad, because we’re missing a lot (myself included).

In the woods, when I’m able to pay less attention to the endless plans, worries, and opinions cycling through my brain and become more aware of the wild world around me, I almost always observe something helpful.

Sometimes it’s as simple as birdsong, lilting high to lift my mood.

Other times, it’s a great blue heron, deer, or beetle I would have otherwise missed, reminding me that no matter what I’m dealing with, and no matter how difficult it seems, I’m never in it alone.

Many times, what I observe reveals something I desperately needed to know, even if I didn’t know how much I needed it until that very moment.

Like the time I was feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and out of sorts. Walking slowly through our yard, I noticed a young rabbit softly grooming herself, nibbling on plants, and looking around nervously. It suddenly came to me that after my father’s death, I was feeling as tender and vulnerable as that bunny, and that it’s good to be extra gentle with someone in that state. Watching the rabbit’s sweet energy, I was able to be kinder with myself over the next few weeks, and soon I felt much better.

Sometimes I receive a message that offers guidance for a longer period of time. Once, while walking through a sliver of old-growth forest wedged into the middle of the city, I came across a snail slowly crossing the path. As I paused to watch him make his way over dirt and small stones, I realized he was modeling what I most needed to do—go at my own pace, with absolutely no rush, in full contact with the earth. I took a photo and used it as a background on my laptop for the next year to help me remember.

As we make our plans and intentions for the year ahead, now is a great time to ask for help from nature to show us how we can walk our best path in the months to come.

In my experience, the guidance can come from an individual animal, plant, or other being, or from an entire species.

For example, I’ve learned from trees about stillness and generosity; from bees about the critical importance of doing what comes naturally—no more and no less; and from my own idiosyncratic chickens about the beauty of being awkward and goofy.

Right now I’m still holding the question of what the natural world can tell me about how to navigate my upcoming year—which includes the publication of my first novel, a big move for my mother, and many other unexpected things to come.

I’m not yet sure if it’ll be the pond turtles I see on my walks, teaching me how to hold a hard-shell sense of safety and security that I always carry with me, no matter how far outside my comfort zone I stray; or the crows, who fly freely and independently through our neighborhood, but who are always connected to their family winging alongside them; or the friendly Eastern phoebe who comes so close I can nearly touch her when I’m working in the yard, though I’ve yet to understand what she might be telling me.

Maybe it’ll be all of them and more.

Not everything in nature is a message, of course. It would be arrogant to believe that everything around us is there for our benefit. But it would be equally arrogant to assume that that means there’s nothing we can learn from them.

If nothing else, it’s clear from the state of the world that we have a lot to learn. I don’t know a better way to do that than to tap into an intelligence far greater than our poor, overworked brains.

Find Your Own Intuitive Nature

I believe that the most important thing we can do to receive what nature is telling us is to be curious and pay attention.

I like to wander in a natural area and notice anything that seems significant. It might be repeated sightings of a particular individual or species, or an animal that comes closer than usual, or behaves in an unusual way. It could be something that draws my attention for some other reason, or a plant or a boulder that’s been there all along, but I only just now noticed.

When I observe something that feels significant, I notice what it brings up in me. Like intuition, nature’s intelligence can be sensed in diverse ways. For some folks, it’s through feelings or body sensations; for others, it’s images; for still others, words or a sudden knowing.

Paying close attention inside and outside, often a truth becomes clear. Sometimes it doesn’t. That’s okay too.

How does nature communicate with you? What’s it telling you now? I’d love to know. Please leave a comment, or post for the benefit of others in the Facebook group I created just for this purpose (https://www.facebook.com/groups/180860054978770).

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Read the previous installment of A Wild Hunch: Ideas for Reclaiming Our Natural, Intuitive Wisdom in the Natural World

Snail photo by Alexas_Fotos on Unsplash