“Sometimes when you lose your way in the fog, you end up in a beautiful place (IIdan)…” 

Here in Limuru, you often wake up to a cold mist, with the sun slanting through the foggy windows and the stark chill as you get out of a cozy bed. To some, the occasional fog is a dismal experience, but to others it is magical and mystifying. Once you step into the forest here, the mist becomes all the more “mist”-ical. Watch sunlit rays cut through it to emerge from behind the haze. See the dew glisten on all the green that surrounds you. Stop. Take a breath of air. Just breathe. Notice the sounds of the birds and of the monkeys. Spend some time with yourself and with the earth. Just be. 

Be what? Be a part of a greater world, something real and raw. Connect back to our environment–our home. As humans, we crave a deeper bond with our planet–our planet that has sustained us and its complex ecosystems for generations. It is not only pleasant to be outdoors–to walk amongst the  trees, the hills, and the mist–in some ways, it is necessary. 

As humans, and being made of at least 70% water (“How Much Water Is Enough?”), we are mist–or, at least, there is a large percentage of each of us that is water, but in human form. The water that runs in us and through us will eventually make its way back into the soil and then back into the water cycle of the earth. In this way, we are a part of one of the enduring systems of life. Could the water that is in us become the mist that others will walk through one day?

 Life is all connected in a way that is almost too intricate to understand. That complexity shows just how insignificant we are compared to the scale of the earth. However, even though we are relatively small, we are a part of the earth and have much power over it. Our actions create ripples that have big effects and can even change the entire scheme of things–drop by drop, ripple by ripple–altering the courses of rivers and the tides and current of oceans. 

In the year 2020, our world is in a fog in so many ways–a fog that envelopes all of us and can seem gloomy. Never-ending. However, the fog always rises… it always clears. Even in the thickest of fogs, the morning sun still peeks through the gloom as the mist begins to lift. The beauty–obscured by all of the clouds–emerges, and we discover something amazing underneath. Here in Limuru, we find ourselves in the midst of a great forest. 

With Covid-19 and pressing social issues, the world is under a heavy cloud. However, the smog will clear. Society will find itself in a better place–a place where we are stronger because, together, we’ve overcome seemingly unbeatable odds. We will have seen the taming of a global pandemic. We will have seen positive social reform and humanity’s strong capacity for improvement. 

We will discover that the human forest is still one of saplings. Saplings that can stand, grow stronger and become what we are meant to be–a part of something bigger. Ageless. A part of an ecosystem that predates us and will last longer than we will. A part of an environment that is positive, life-giving and restorative. 

We, as humans, are temporal, yet our interactions can have lasting impact on our environment. We are a part of cycles and systems, and we have great capacity to effect positive change and even to participate in renewal. We hover here as part of this earth, society and life. We are the mist…When we evaporate, may our existence reveal beauty. May it reveal life and an incredible ability to persevere, to adapt, and to create positive interactions with each other and with the world that sustains us. As we have lost ourselves in this 2020 fog, may we eventually end up in a more beautiful place.

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“How Much Water Is Enough?”  You’ve Probably Heard That the Human Body Is Made up of over 70 Percent Water, and That Drinking Enough Every Day Is Essential for Everything from Maintaining a Healthy Weight to Energy Levels and Flushing Toxins out of the Body., www.medicalwesthospital.org/are-you-drinking-enough-water.php.

Mehmet Murat Ildan: Sometimes When You Lose Your Way in the Fog, You End up in a Beautiful Place! Don’t Be Afraid of Getting Lost!, www.quotes.net/quote/46674.