Dialogue With Nature

Viac o knihe

People who talk to trees and dolphins and the sun, are often thought to be at least mildly eccentric if not completely out to lunch! European Royals who have this endearing habit are therefore looked on with more than a passing interest. In the book Dialogue With Nature we find that Prince Charles is not the only person born into a royal family who is sensitive to the other life-forms surrounding us. Princess Irene, sister of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and second daughter of Queen Juliana, has written an outstandingly intimate account of this aspect of her life. She recalls her childhood when she regarded the natural world as a true friend amidst the pressures and expectations of growing up as a princess, and describes her feelings after the break-up of her marriage with Prince Carlos of Spain when she struggled to become an 'ordinary' person in contact with other ordinary people through her work with disadvantaged women. Eventually reaching a point of crisis, she released all the structures of her life in order to find her true self and in the process rediscovered her childhood connection with nature. She describes how, as she went through her intense process of learning from -- or being taught by -- nature, she intuitively rejects the 'doom and gloom' scenario of the earth's destiny with all its associated guilt feelings and chose instead the life-affirming, optimistic view that each one of us can communicate with the elements of the natural world, not only to enhance our own life but also to gain knowledge of what the earth requires of human beings. After her years of working to integrate the various realities that make up her life, Princess Irene now works to help others acquire the skills of contacting and communicating with the life that surrounds us.