What is it that you love?
Feel invited to set your timer for 30 seconds and list everything and everyone you love. If you are up for a challenge, also count how many things and persons you can come up with in 30 seconds. Feel free to skip “I love…” for maximum effeciency 😉 After that check your mental and emotional state. I would love to hear about your experience.
What this daily mental exercise does for me is a powerful shift into higher frequency and improved state of well-being. The more often I remind myself of what I love I become it. Instead of focusing on the things that worry me, are not working or need fixing – like fretting over my daughter’s lack of interest in school, tending to a project that got stuck, mulling over the latest news of nitrogen excess in the Netherlands, and so on.
For example, I love nature. The picture above shows the view that I wake up to every morning. I feel very blessed to live in a house surrounded by trees. Every day, I rise from sleep accompanied by the morning concert of the little birds that have settled in the garden. The blackbirds, short-toed tree creepers, pied flycatchers, dunnocks, and thrushes raise their voices to celebrate another day on this beautiful planet. And I feel their joy resonating in my heart.
I love nature walks, taking our dogs out into the dunes or the forests of the national park of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. Engulfed by the beauty and the unconditional bountifulness of Mother Earth, my stories and attachments to how things should be fall away and I get to enjoy the pureness of my own joyful nature in nature.
I also love staying up to date with other people’s love for nature and how they act upon their love. This morning when I read past the world news that is usually reported in a not very uplifting manner – to say the least – I came across articles about:
- Community-led efforts in Brazil mitigate deforestation through sustainable practice and reforestation projects. Organizations like the Amazon Conservation Team and Rainforest Alliance are working with local communities to plant native species, which helps preserve biodiversity and restore ecosystems that are vital for regulating climate and supporting wildlife.
- In Africa, the “Great Green Wall” initiative aims to create a massive wall of trees across the Sahel region to combat desertification, improve food security, and create jobs. This project has made significant progress, covering about 15% of its target area, and has already helped restore millions of hectares of degraded land.
- Several countries and organizations are focusing on marine conservation by establishing new marine protected areas (MPAs). For example, the Pacific Island nations, in collaboration with international NGOs, are creating vast marine reserves to protect diverse marine life and habitats from overfishing, pollution, and climate change.
- Efforts such as the “30 by 30” initiative, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, have gained international support. Countries like the UK, Canada, and several EU nations have pledged to expand their marine protected areas, enhancing biodiversity and sustaining fish populations.
- Sustainable agricultural practices are becoming more popular worldwide, focusing on reducing chemical inputs, conserving water, and enhancing soil health. Agroforestry — integrating trees into agricultural landscapes — has gained traction in Latin America and Asia as a method to enhance crop yields, prevent soil erosion, and sequester carbon.
- Organizations like the World Agroforestry Centre are working with local farmers to implement these practices, which benefit both the environment and local communities by providing additional sources of income and increasing resilience to climate change.
All this tunes me into a positive and productive state of mind and heart from which my contribution to the world flows forwards. A contribution that is less colored by fear but love for all that is. And in the process, I become what I love.
What is it that you love? Please feel to share via sendlove at heartwork dot earth.