The poet John Keats believed nature's beauty could actually make us better people. When he wrote the poem Endymion, in 1818, his brother was dying from tuberculosis. Keats himself was exhausted and sick. Yet he would later call this difficult year his annus mirabilis (a year of miracles). Keats produced some of his most beautiful poetry during this time.

In this excerpt from one of his most beautiful poems, John Keats reminds us that every morning, when we wake from our dreams, we reconnect (we rebind ourselves) to the earth...through nature.

     A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

     Its loveliness increases; it will never

     pass into nothingness; but still will keep

     a bower quiet for us, and a sleep

     full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

    Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

     a flowery band to bind us to the Earth.

Imagine it is early morning. Dawn hangs by a silvery thread. This fragile moment is a thing of beauty. Perhaps we are waking out of a deep sleep. We will soon pull ourselves out of this dream time!Kwe will rise and re-bind ourselves to an earth that sustains us.