Naked In Eden Blog – Robin Easton

Lilly Says:

20 January 2009 at 9:51 pm.

Just love you robin. Pure and simple. Never second guess your videos or posting them up here. You send a message loud and clear. We need to get back to the only things that matter in life really.

Loved these lines in particular – “I’ve experienced both intense emotional and physical suffering. Both were respected teachers on my path to understanding humanity, to a life filled with compassion, absent of judgment. So what motivates me beyond my enduring relationship with Mother Nature? Awakening to the OBVIOUS. The simple things I continually discover within each moment. What are these things that fill my days, moment to moment? Here begins the answer.”

That looks amazing snow too and I would join you if I could. You are a wise teacher and I am always eager to learn. Take Care my friend and I look forward to the next lesson.

Robin Easton:
My dear Lilly, Your words brought a HUGE grin to my face, I took a deep breath and felt so uplifted. Thank you, thank you! —-What I tell you now is the honest truth: when I did this video, you came to mind and I thought, “I bet Lilly would roll around out here with me.” So I laughed out loud when you said: “That looks amazing snow too and I would join you if I could.” Well, like my good friend Robb in New Zealand says, “You WERE with me. I could even hear you laughing!” I knew it. Thank you my wacky, kind and charismatic friend.

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Lance Says:

21 January 2009 at 4:24 am.

Hi Robin,
Oh, I love this video of you in the snow! It reminds me so much of a day we had here in December. We were outside sledding in the backyard with our kids. And then I “tackled” my wife – and we just rolled around in the snow – had a snowball fight with the kids – and it was simply “fun”. And it was all about being in that moment. I think that’s a lot of what we miss as we “grow up” – we lose the child-like tendencies to have fun just for the sake of having fun. Am I guilty of this? Yes. I get too caught up in doing what’s expected, following some unwritten rules of adulthood that say to suppress that inner-child. And what happens? Life becomes “stuffy” and “stale”. Robin, thank you for sharing this video. Is it simple? Sure it is! And you know what, you’re having more fun doing such a simple activity than most people have because “that’s not what adults do”….Do it anyway! You are, and it’s awesome!

Robin Replies:
Oh dear Lance! I am soooo heartened by this delightful story of you and your wife and kids. I am filled with joy just reading about it. I chuckled and immediately formed images in my mind. You and your family along with Lilly would definitely have to be in my snow rolling contest!!! I’m sure there’s a few others here who would willing join in. This doesn’t surprise me about you AT ALL. You radiate vitality. —-I love your words: “I think that’s a lot of what we miss as we “grow up”- we lose the child-like tendencies to have fun just for the sake of having fun.” Powerful insight. I agree. I HAVE to do things like this Lance just to CONTINUALLY shake off the “stuffy”, “stale” stink that can settle onto us all at times.

These words of yours are also very potent: “I get too caught up in doing what’s expected, following some unwritten rules of adulthood that say to suppress that inner-child.” I think we all have to do seemingly frivolous and spontaneous things all the time to keep on our toes. Beyond that, we need to do them to revitalize our spirits and BE what we really ARE, which is LIFE. Thank you, Lance. You are honest and wise. —PS Next you will have to try the mud fight..this summer. Or if you have a swing set and there are bare patches (indentations) of dirt under each swing, then get out the hose, fill them with water and then you and your kids swing though them. It creates a glorious mess!!! LOL!

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Ophelia Rising Says:

21 January 2009 at 5:52 am.

Man, I have to get a good pair of snow boots and snow pants, now!

I absolutely LOVE your spirit, Robin, and wish I could be there rolling in the snow with you! You have voiced here something that I was actually thinking about yesterday – and that is how much I can experience with my kids, without need of money or “doing” something. That we can have a rich, full life right here, without even leaving our house! That we can simply go outside and experience life out there, walk around the yard, watch the snow falll, watch the birds, pick up branches and old dead leaves, find animal tracks, and yes, roll around in the snow. Or we can stay inside, have puppet shows, create art, music, dress up and put on plays, play games, etc.. It IS obvious, and yet we as modern, “civilized” people somehow neglect to see it. We do feel the need to be entertained, somehow…

I was struck the other day, on visiting a friend’s house, how “plugged in” they were. They had a Wii for their kids – (are you familiar with this)? – and while we were there, Jack and their boy played on it the ENTIRE TIME. These games are so strange. They take the place of actual experiences. You can play tennis, bowl, and do a multitude of different things while you watch yourself on the TV. I just don’t get it. I mean, what exactly is the point? Why can’t you just go and do these things in real life? I guess I don’t understand the attraction to it. Why is it fun? When I watch it, it seems very dull and unimaginative. Jack loved it, of course, because we don’t have anything like it at home, and was very reluctant to get off it and go home. Which is reason, in itself, why we will not be getting one! :0

I saw an ad for one program you could buy, where you watch yourself dance. I mean…huh? Can’t you just put on music and dance, without spending the $50? Just turn on the radio, for heaven’s sake, and dance around in your kitchen! Not really getting it…

And I’m saddened, in a way, for these kids who grow up playing this stuff all the time. Where does real life begin for them? Does everything have to be somehow lived on a screen? Between computers, television, video games, and other things experienced virtually, these little ones don’t even have TIME to go outside. When will it end? ARGH!

(Sorry…got a little carried away, there. But this is something I get sort of passionate about, and it really bothers me. I’ll get off my soapbox, now.

Simplicity – yes. Living in the moment – yes. I have to remember this, every day. Thank you for reminding me of this, and for posting about something I’ve had in my head lately. Much, much love to you, wise friend. xoxo

Robin Replies:
Okay, my sister; first off: don’t ever tame down who you are, what is in your heart, what your soul hungers to express. Not on these pages of mine. I whole heartedly invite, encourage and love your powerful voice. Be who you REALLY are. You confirm things that I too feel and need to express with the same Life-driven passion. You never get “carried away”. Well, you do, in the most wonderful empowering way. I too “get carried” away. It is built into my DNA. Thank you, God, for that. In fact not enough people get carried away. Like you and I once spoke of: “What has happened to our healthy rage, our indignity, our passion, our spontaneity, our desire to take risks and let our hearts speak for us…instead of letting our minds rationalize away our very hearts, our innate knowing.” —Let your heart fly in the face of an often stale, lost and soul destroying society. The world needs you. I need you. You speak of our childrens’ lives, their future. You speak of beautiful Earth, which we have collectively walked away from…abandoned. These are important things to speak of, to question, to be emotional about. They are Life itself flying on the wings of your heart. Our children are more than ipods, cell phones, xBoxes, computers, TV, electronically speaking toys, radios and consumerism. They are flesh and blood, free spirits and innately wise souls. Inside they seek reflections of who they already are…within the world in which they live. You give them that reflection Ophelia. You do without hesitation. Trust the beauty and knowing you were born with. You, yourself, are one of the children who knows, one of the children who seeks the very reflection I speak of. You know, Ophelia.

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Beth Says:

21 January 2009 at 9:34 am.

Robin – Wow… simple and inspiring! I recently was downsized from the “big” corporate job and I have spent the past couple of months beginning to unwind and find “me” again. It’s going to take some time to truly relax and smell the roses… but I am determined! So glad I found you, it’s good to read your words and how you live your life – love the Things To Do idea.
Have a great week!

Robin Replies:
Dear Beth, I am so glad you enjoyed this. I love your “downsized” story. What a change that is for you….for anyone. Before I went away at Christmas I was going seven days a week, long hours, and then all of sudden I had 5 days off to be with my sweetheart and do a road trip to explore some Native American ruins. It wasn’t until the last day of our trip that I was really ready to begin my vacation!! It can take some time, can’t it? That impresses upon me the profound processes that are take place in our souls, and how deep into us certain experiences or ways of living can go. I think it is marvelous that you are so aware of this process of unwinding and finding yourself again. Good for you, Beth. —-We do find ourselves again, as long as we allow the sense of “in betweeness” to exist (for as long as it needs to), and don’t fill it up that “uncertain space” with “something”…”anything”, just to try and feel ourselves again. I have found that the body has it’s own intelligence and timing. Often we humans are uncomfortable with being “in between” because we aren’t in the place we’ve known for some time, and yet we also aren’t in “the new place” that we hunger for. Beautiful insight Beth; thank you for taking the time to share your story.

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Ophelia Rising Says:

21 January 2009 at 10:53 am.

Robin, here I am again. I fear that, in my first comment, I sound way too harsh and judgmental. I’m sure that Wii, and other games like it, are really fun and stimulating for a lot of people. It’s just not my thing. I guess I just wanted to convey the importance of being in REAL life, too…

That’s all! Love to you – xo

Robin Replies:
You are very dear Ophelia, (read my note on your first comment) —-I think there is a distinction that might help you here. I have never known you to judge another; it just isn’t your way. There is a difference between judgment and your own personal passion, vision, insight…and what you want to offer your children. —I think it is a very real thing to be concerned about today’s children. That doesn’t mean that you are judging anyone for what they do or don’t do. It is people with concern and passion like yours who are compelled to study the effects of computer and technology on developing brains, adult brains as well. It doesn’t take a lot of digging to read about the effects of technology on today’s children, especially in the very young developmental stages (of the brain and psyche). It’s is very real that computer and other technological tools and games affect the brain and nervous system…and the eyes. I know this firsthand. My sweetheart and I experience it ourselves (after long hours at the computer) and often talk about it. —-The concerns go way beyond the often chronic use of technology, but into the absence of the natural world in our children’s lives. It is a powerful and rapid change in human evolution, one happening so fast there is barely time to study and gauge it’s impact. This is why I say, your voice is needed, and because you speak without judgment, you will awaken others who may not yet be aware of the consequences. Sometimes we all need a good solid jolt…to remember what is important. I always revel in your heartfelt expressions. Always.

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Julie Says:

21 January 2009 at 11:49 am.

“Sometimes when people first meet me they can think I’m a simple soul…
Underneath my seeming simplicity lies a deep river filled with hidden currents…
Awakening to the OBVIOUS…
The simple things I continually discover within each moment.
I just am.
I have no mapped-out steps or concepts or “how to(s)” to offer you. However, I am an expert at consciously embracing this moment and letting all else go.
Within this moment I discover eternity, and daily I live my connection to ALL of existence.
I am happy.”

…and this, dear Robin, is where our hearts meet and why we are friends.

Words just can’t quite capture the emotion, can they? It’s only by fully immersing ourselves into each beautiful, simple moment and fully living it that we can sense our wholeness and feel the resulting joy!

Your videos have done what even the best placed words cannot; you and the dog exhibit utter happiness so well! You bring to mind the feelings we knew so well as children, which still live within, waiting for us to invite them out to play, again.

We’re NEVER too old for this feeling!

Robin Replies:
Hello Dear Julie, hands in the Earth Julie! Yes, that IS where our hearts meet and WHY we are friends. Your immediate body knowing of this made me sit here with a HUGE silly grin on my face. —-Your words: “It’s only by fully immersing ourselves into each beautiful, simple moment and fully living it that we can sense our wholeness and feel the resulting joy!” Those are such beautiful and wise words, Julie. I read that line three times; it is so true. I have seen this in you when you talk about your life, your grandchildren and nature. This moment to moment awareness the makes you so alive and creates sparks in your writing…and I’m sure in your eyes. —-Like I once wrote in a post, it is so much easier and more quickly conveyed when I can “feel” something to someone. When I can convey the energy through my actions and experiences. I once read something written by several anthropologist and eco-psychologists; they believed the written word was the downfall of many indigenous cultures. These early people moved further away from an experiential life into a more cerebral and linear life….and spent more time indoors. I can really understand how this could happen. Thank you my friend.

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Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, CPC Says:

21 January 2009 at 2:39 pm.

Follow your heart. Share a smile and something positive and the world benefits 100 times over!

Robin Replies:
Hi Dear Tara! Thank you SO much for the encouragement to follow my heart. I also really like the truth you wrote about doing something positive, even something as seemingly simple as a smile benefits the world in aBIG way. Even if we get no response, we often don’t see the far reaching effects of kindness. However, I believe that kindness and positivity always take root somewhere, even if only in ourselves where it makes us feel happier and more alive, more connected to Life. Thank you.

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Tammy Says:

21 January 2009 at 8:39 pm.

Hey Robin,

What a wonderful video to view right before I go to sleep. Positive dreams I will have. You are such an inspiration to me. Until I became friends with you I felt like I was some weird bird that doesn’t watch TV, doesn’t read a great deal, and happy walking or riding a bike. I love riding horses and taking pictures. I just love life. Sure my children make my life complete but even when they are grown and on their own I am looking forward to playing outside.

I am so looking forward to you sharing some of the simple things that you do in life. Why not? It appears that you have an abundance of readers that are just like us! Share your happiness. It might just rub off on those that might be having a down day.

Love and hugs,

Tammy

Robin Replies:
Dear Tammy, you comment really touched me and warmed my heart as I too thought I was the only one who didn’t read, watch TV, etc. I was thrilled to find this common connection between us. And yet, looking back over your writing and photos, one of the things I notice is that you are SO present in your life and each post it a visceral experience of Life. You don’t talk about living….YOU LIVE! As I write this I can think of a several other people who seem to suck Life in right through their pores. People I meet on these pages and as well as in my day to day life. They are such a thrill to be around. Thank you for being such a powerful reflection for me in this way and many other ways.

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Horatio Salt Says:

21 January 2009 at 9:41 pm.

If a reasonably sentient being from another solar system came across the video of you rolling in the snow and laughing, I like to think the creature would be somewhat puzzled. To me, that is the ultimate test of pretty much anything we might do: would it be unexplainable to non-earthlings. If yes, do it with gusto. If no, what’s the point? By the way, I also loved the rolling dog. Reminded me of my own dog, when I lived on a farm. He loved to roll — with gusto, I might add, so intent was he upon confusing extra-terrestrials — in cow manure.

Robin Replies
Dear HS, I LOVE this “double-take” insight! I read it and my head snapped back to read it again, a second and third time. It is powerful. You wrote: “To me, that is the ultimate test of pretty much anything we might do: would it be unexplainable to non-earthlings. If yes, do it with gusto. If no, what’s the point?” I am going to use this as my new gauge of creativity. If we stop and think about what you wrote here, it is very profound. A GREAT tool!!! You never cease to amaze me. —-also you know what I wrote you about your “Manure Rolling” dog. Lol!!! And yet, it did give me an idea for this summer’s “Rolling” video. You just wait!! Hahahahahah!

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Kitty Says:

22 January 2009 at 3:23 am.

Thanks Robin for making my morning and giving me a smile. Makes me want to call out of work and go play in the snow instead.

Robin Replies
Dear Kitty, I wish you could have called out of work and played. This touched my heart. At least you have the hunger for play. Never give that up. It’s who we all are.

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soulMerlin Says:

22 January 2009 at 6:51 pm.

Lovely Video and a dog that knows real Joy. As Tammy says…a wonderful video, right before I go to sleep. I have my first real day of rehearsals with the new cast tomorrow (nearly 2am and I’m up at 7) but I’ll sleep better with the simple message you give.

My favourite poem has these lines in it ~ “Children remembered but only a few – and down they forgot as up they grew” (ee cummings)

night night
love
henry

Robin Replies
Dear henry, I too sleep better if I experience simple joy before bed. If I read at all it is children’s books. Lol! I them for the simple reason that they leave me light of heart as I close my eyes on my day. —This is a beautiful and very meaningful poem by ee cummings. Sadly one I have found true in many adults. Although I have a wonderful group of people here, as you know, who are so alive and eager for Life and insight and growth. Such a blessing for me and all of us.

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David Says:

23 January 2009 at 12:29 pm.

Very nice Robin. It did bring a smile to my face.

Robin Replies
Dear David, I am glad that you smiled. If I created even one of the smiles of your life I am honored. How amazing! That pleases me. Thank you.

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Kit Says:

23 January 2009 at 11:05 pm.

It’s the simplest things that bring the lasting joy. . . I like to ask myself, when I am 111 years old, will I look back on my life and wish I’d taken time for this? Often the answer is no – it’s the simple things that make me think, “YES!”. Snuggling with my kids, going hiking, taking the time to call my Dad and chat for awhile. Those are the things worth my time. It’s funny how easy it is to forget, even moment to moment.

Oh, and I have honored your blog with a Dardos Award- swing by my blog if you like, and learn more!

Robin Replies
Dear Kitmama, This comment is filled with your spontaneous nature, your vitality. I too, my friend, ask myself if EVERY DAY when I am 110….How will I feel about this? Every time the answer comes back sweet and clear. “LIVE, LIVE, LIVE, Robin, soak in every single moment. Your only regrets will be what you DON’T do.” Thank you for seeing this and asking the crucial questions.

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Chrissy Says:

25 January 2009 at 3:02 pm.

You are crazily beautiful
I do think your sweetheart is very wise too ..
Much love ChrissyXX

Robin Replies
Dear Chrissy, I bet you didn’t know that such a “crazily beautiful” woman lurked in the soul of the Deer Keeper. But that is the Deer Keeper’s magic. She is all things. Like Nature she has an wild uninhibited soul. She is laughter, tears, grief, joy, love and more. It is wonderful to be so alive. Thank you for appreciating my many aspects. Thank you my talented and sensitive friend. Thank you. —And yes, my sweetheart is so very wise.

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Robb Says:

25 January 2009 at 9:38 pm.

Kia ora Robin,
I had to come and watch this again today, as it so hot here it is almost unbearable! I took a delightful day off work, skipped I should write, and Charlie and I swam in the river and both of us are wiped out by the sun and our skins are browned and had enough! Now he wants to roll in snow, and so do I!
Aroha,
Robb

Robin Replies
Dear Robb, I am sooo touched that you returned. It touched me to my core, as you know. You have inspired me beyond words with your wisdom and intact connection to the wild and Life….all the things that really matter in this world. —-I chuckled when you said it was so hot. I STILL remember the tropical heat, Robb. I also reveled in that you “skipped” and took Charlie swimming. YEAH!!! FREEEEEEDOM!!! What a treat. I’ve no doubt that if your family was here you would all be rolling in the snow with me. I just KNOW it. Charlie would love it. He is such a beautiful soul filled with awareness and innocence….just as you are. Aroha my friend.

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Lynn Says:

26 January 2009 at 11:03 am.

Your writing is always so wise and wonderful Robin, but this one even more so. I felt your words bringing me back to my “self.” And your video made me miss New Mexico and the mountains, while laughing…

Thank you

Robin Replies
Dear Lynn, this is pure joy to see you here. Such a special treat. I am touched by your words; they go deep into me and bring me to stronger sense of myself. I think we do that for each other. —Yes there is such a mystical essence here in New Mexico that imprints itself on our souls and never leaves. Powerful land and energy. Thank you Lynn; I am moved.

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eddie Says:

26 January 2009 at 6:30 pm.

I sent this to a friend who’s dog is dying…her third loss ‘probably’ in a year…it cheered her up

thanks for posting.

Cheers
eddie

Robin Replies
Hi dear eddie!!! What a lovely story. I am touched that my post could cheer your friend. It is so hard to lose a canine friend that we are close to, let alone have three losses in a year. My heart goes out to your friend and sends courage and healing. Thank you for being sensitive and caring eddie.

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Jack Payne Says:

27 January 2009 at 11:30 pm.

Robin, I think you have captured the true essence of nature and one’s commonality with it. One word, “soothing,” says it all. Beats Valium by a country mile.

There is only one way, really:

To fully enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.

Robin Replies
Oh dear Jack, you do see, don’t you….so well…so much. I love the “big bites” thing. Thank you for reinforcing that in me. Beautiful. I have always taken big bites, as if there would be no tomorrow. I have never regretted it.

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