Gerrit Gielen

What does it mean to be truly grounded? At its heart, grounding is the act of opening yourself to the love that Mother Earth— Gaia — is constantly offering you. It is the experience of being fully joyfully here, present on this planet, rooted in your body, alive to the world around you.

Yet for so many of us that degree of rootedness feels out of reach. Not because it is impossible, but because three deep-seated obstacles stand in the way.

The First Obstacle: Thinking you are not worthy of love

One of the most quietly devastating beliefs a person can carry is the belief that they do not deserve love.

This is especially prevalent amongst those who have always felt a little different: sensitive souls, creative spirits, people who feel they never quite fit the mold. When you feel different, you are often made to feel unwanted. And when you feel unwanted long enough, a painful thought begins to take root, There must be something wrong with me.

From that thought, everything else follows. You close yourself off. You reject love before it can reject you. The natural, beautiful flow of giving and receiving, the very rhythm that sustains life, is broken. When that flow is broken, it shows. You feel depressed, disconnected, and find it difficult to function. These are not personal failures. They are the symptoms of a soul that has been told, again and again, that it does not belong.

But here is the truth. You cannot accept love from Mother Earth or anyone else until you accept it from yourself. Learning to love yourself is not a luxury or an afterthought. It is the foundation. It is where grounding begins.

The Second Obstacle: Living in a society that is not grounded

The second obstacle is more subtle, but just as powerful. Many of us are desperately trying to feel connected but we are reaching for it in the wrong direction. We look to society. To productivity. To the gleaming towers of modern cities and the relentless hum of the performance culture. This is where it’s happening, we tell ourselves. I need to be part of this or else I am a failure. And in some ways, human society is rich and remarkable. But it is also, in a very real sense, ungrounded. When you try to root yourself in something that has no roots, you do not find stability, you find exhaustion.

Now, turn your attention to nature.

Walk into a forest. Stand beside the sea at sunrise. Watch a flower open in the morning light. Notice how everything belongs. How everything has its place. How no living thing is asked to justify its existence or prove its worth.

And notice something else. When you see beauty in nature, that beauty is not outside you. It is inside you. The flower’s radiance, the landscape’s grandeur, all these things move you because they are reflecting something you already carry inside. In recognizing beauty, you become a giver of it. You become, in the most genuine sense, an angel, a being who walks through the world and quietly illuminates it.

This is what it means to be grounded. Not to escape society, but to bring something real into it. When you are rooted in the Earth and connected to nature, you can walk through a city and be a source of change, of warmth, of presence. You do not lose yourself; you share yourself.

The Third Obstacle: Believing that the Earth is a dead “thing,” incapable of giving love

The third obstacle may be the biggest obstacle of all.

Somewhere along the way, humanity forgot something essential, that Earth is not a rock. It is not a resource, and it is not a machine. Mother Earth is a living, conscious being who is ancient and wise. She is often referred to as Gaia, after the Greek Goddess representing interconnectedness with humanity. In other words, Oneness.

When we forget this, we tend to relate to Earth as something to be controlled and managed. And that attitude, that cold, mechanical stance, creates a profound imbalance within us. Think of it this way. How could any child be whole and happy if they believed their mother felt nothing for them? If they felt she was incapable of love? That child would be lost, anxious, and grasping for control over something they fundamentally misunderstand.

We are that child.

The consequences of this kind of thinking ripples outward. The climate is obviously changing, species are vanishing, the world is slowly losing its wildness. These are not just environmental crises; they are mirrors held up before us. When we lose our connection with Mother Earth, with nature, we lose ourselves. When we treat the Earth as dead matter, we treat ourselves the same—as mere machines, running cold algorithms, ignoring our feelings as if they were illusions.

That road leads nowhere. It is time to choose a different one.

Coming Home

A recap of the three keys to healthy grounding:

Love yourself. You are not broken. You are worthy. You are brave and beautiful, and you deserve every bit of love that life is trying to offer you.

Return to nature. Modern society, for all its wonders, is not a place where you will find your roots. The Earth is. Step outside. Touch something real. Let the world remind you of who you truly are.

Remember that Mother Earth is alive. She is not indifferent to you. She has been waiting for you. Feel her love, not as a metaphor, but as a living reality, and let her hold you.

You are worthy. You are not alone. You are a radiant angel of light, born from divine love, walking upon a living, breathing planet that celebrates your arrival.

We stand at the threshold of a new Earth — a world where humanity remembers its rightful place within the web of life. This shift begins inside each of us. When we accept the love of Mother Earth, we become part of nature once again, not as dominators, but as conscious participants and co-creators.

Life is everywhere. Consciousness flows through all things. Beneath every form you see pulses a living intelligence filled with love for you.

Say Yes to this love. Open your heart. Come home to your body, to this planet, and to your true self.

The Earth deeply loves you. If you accept her love, you will find yourself finally and beautifully grounded.

All you have to do is say YES!

© Gerrit Gielen

Edited by Suzy Conway

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