I met author Tina Welling for a cup of Goddess tea in her hometown of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. What struck me most in our conversation was the way she spoke of nature as a relationship. One marked by patience, presence, and profound reciprocity. Over time, that relationship reshaped her life, her creativity, and her understanding of who she was in the world.

Dressed in three shades of lilac, her silvery blonde hair loosely framing her face, Tina has a striking presence that belies a soft-spoken demeanor. I found myself wondering whether it’s the latter that facilitates her profound connection to nature, or whether it’s the extensive amount of time she spends in nature that has shaped her gentle manner. After spending time with her, I imagine it’s a little of both.

Rather than a traditional interview, what follows are a few reflections from my conversation with Tina that reveal how she lives in relationship with the natural world.

Reflections from a conversation with Tina Welling

 

How would you describe your relationship with Nature?

My relationship with nature is one of unconditional love on both ends. No matter what is going on with me, I can walk out my door and remember that I am a part of something sacred and alive. This moment of realization opens me to an acceptance of the moment and whatever it holds for me. 

You have said our connection to nature plays a vital role in being our most authentic, best selves.

When we let nature befriend us, we are comforted by her bounty, exhilarated by her beauty, fed by her abundance, and energized by her rhythms.  Somehow, the wisdom that we are made of “star stuff,” as Carl Sagan put it, has taken a backseat to more cultural concerns. The fact is that we are nature. There is no divisive line separating us. I am the new leaf sprouting on the tree, the call of the raptor, the wave on the sea. We are life: humans, animals, stars, and streams. 

You live in one of my favorite places in the United States, where so much land is protected as wild. I imagine that makes it easier to have a profound relationship with nature.  

This valley attracts extreme sports adventurers, but I tend more toward a sense of being when outdoors. The quality of a person’s relationship with the natural world resides within us, not without. No matter where we live, we have the sky; we have the earth. If we spend our time in cities, we can adopt a tree, enjoy house plants, admire ants in the cracks of the sidewalk, and pigeons on the windowsills. We can take a thread from our pants cuff and follow it to the sun, knowing we are holding a rain cloud, composted earth, energy from deep underground, and moonlight. A single thread of our clothing is a microcosm of life.

You often write about how a relationship with nature supports our creativity and life itself.

Being in nature teaches us how to become comfortable with stillness; it nourishes us, demonstrates that the present moment is all we have, that nothing is wasted, and that everything is connected to everything else. The natural world is filled with lessons about how to live our lives, solve our problems, and give us patterns to follow and trust.

 

Spending time with Tina Welling reminded me that a relationship with the wild is not something to be achieved or perfected. It is something we enter into often, quietly, with attention, presence, and a willingness to listen.