The Wild Resilience of Jane Goodall

The Old Wisdom by Jane Goodall
When the night wind makes the pine trees creak
And the pale clouds glide across the dark sky,
Go out, my child, go out and seek
Your soul: the eternal I.
For all the grasses rustling at your feet
And every flaming star that glitters high
Above you, close up and meet
In you: the Eternal I.
Yes, my child, go out into the world; walk slow
And silent, comprehending all, and by and by
Your soul, the Universe, will know
Itself: the Eternal I.
I have often written here on the question of, “How large can we allow ours self to be?” Jane Goodall captures this question and her wildly resilient answer to it in this lovely poem.
You can listen to her read it in the context of a provocative interview with Bill Moyers here:
https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11272009/watch.html
I’m reminded also of this quote from John Seed.

Once we have …”fallen in love outwards,” once we have experienced the fierce joy of life that attends extending our identity into nature, once we realize that the nature within and the nature without are continuous, then we too may share and manifest the exquisite beauty and effortless grace associated with the natural world.

Also see an article on Jane here, as well as numerous interesting links to more Chimpanzee links: “My job is to give people hope,” in the Guardian.