According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word RECEIVE has many meanings. As a transitive verb, which is an action that is characterized by having or containing a direct object, the word RECEIVE can mean “to act as a receptacle or container for; to assimilate through the mind or senses; to permit to enter; and even to “Welcome”. As an intransitive verb, which is an activity that is characterized by not having or containing a direct object, the word RECEIVE can refer to a person as a recipient, and even to convert incoming radio waves into perceptible signals. Interesting word, RECEIVE.

I went out into the woods last Tuesday and returned this afternoon, Saturday. A mere 4 full days and nights to quietly hang with and in nature for a contiguous 96 hours. I spent this time with a woman friend who practices the fine art of “RECEIVING” when in the forest. To RECEIVE from Nature, one is required to stop, really stop all of the usual day-to-day activities which include unnecessary chatter, movement, busyness for hours at a time. One sits quietly and does absolutely nothing but use the senses to observe, to listen, to feel the daylight and shadows shift on your skin. No straining, no grasping, no projection on what should be there or isn’t, no seeking…

In the process of learning to RECEIVE, one begins to re-member the interconnectedness of absolutely everything. The beat and song of the human heart, the perch of a damsel fly, the white headed woodpeckers, a mother and juvenile feeding in the mountain mahogany, scavenging food which is provided for free…. The cacophony of fluid voices heard in a creek as it bounds unbridled to the ocean. Everything free. Everything nourishing. Of Beauty, overflowing into a Fullness with everything intimately entwined within a dance of Balance. Giving and receiving in one giant flow of atoms and energy.

For me, to surrender to RECEIVE has been no simple task. Sure, I could “visit” the idea of Receiving on a coffee break or a simple walk down a wooded path. It was not a characteristic I easily accomplished in a single day or even during a vacation to the back country. I was simply too busy moving, doing, talking and activating my masculine abilities all of time. To RECEIVE into ones skin, is strictly a Feminine attribute…. and, it takes time. Time to allow the veil we place between ourselves and the World to come crashing down. It takes time to release ones clutches on our assumptions of “control”…. To release our fear of what we may experience, or the nothingness of the open air.

Lynne and I laughed together when we spoke about this time in our lives, Crone. “Hell, YES!” Lynne piped up. “We DESERVE to RECEIVE in our lives right now. What have we been doing all of these years? Giving. Giving, giving, giving! To everything… Our families, kids, culture, careers, grocery shopping, household chores, to friends, roles, cooking meals, sweeping floors, laundry…. Mm-mm-mmm! Not anymore. We DESERVE the time it takes to just sit and RECEIVE. Not just now, but for the remainder of our lives…My little truth-sayer. I could not agree with her more.