“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
~ George Washington Carver, American Scientist, Inventor and Educator
It is certain that we all have our bad days. Even the most enlightened of people can sometimes feel a lack of energy and be overwhelmed by the external reality of this world.
In these times we, as individuals, often wish for just one soothing moment, just an hour or two of peace and quiet.
Seeking outside of ourselves for security or happiness is, of course, not going to help us find it.
We certainly can only find lasting security, happiness and peace within our own spirits.
But the environment that we find ourselves in can often make it either easier, or more difficult, to achieve connection with our spirit.
When we strip away all the flash, the lights, the mechanical noises, the social pressures and the workload, what truth are we left with? The truth that we are all natural beings.
In this truth can be found the answer to that unknown longing which we, as seekers on a spiritual path, can feel tugging from within us, but cannot seem to put into words.
We miss our daily connection with nature.
It seems so simple, and may not immediately appear to be at all helpful. But in our moments of stress, illness, doubt, sadness and lethargy, we can indeed once again be filled with simple goodness. And the prescription is not a chemical one at all.
Get yourself out amongst nature.
I kid you not, it works! Even if you have to get in the car, or on the bus, and drive to nature. Do it!
Go alone or take your dog, but don’t bring another person with you all the time. Other people talk, other people enable us to keep our masks on. What we are going for is silence, room to think, complete freedom of self.
It doesn’t matter if you go for a hike in the mountains, a stroll in the park, a slow meander along the lake shore or a bike ride across the mesa. The location isn’t the point.
The breeze, the birds, the cool air, the tickling grass and the tallest tree…these are the point. Feeling the slow, beautiful and seemingly purposeless rhythm of nature is what helps reconnect you.
The air that you breath will seem more energizing, and the worries that you carry will seem less heavy, less real.
Being silent, in nature, is a meditation. I would argue that it is often the most powerful kind, for it feeds both your body and your spirit. Now that is a lovely balance.
Everyday I feel extremely blessed that my current home is so close to open fields and tall hills, that there is a bike trail nearby and mild weather most days. This has not always been the case, and yet I was always willing to drive far afield to reach somewhere natural and beautiful. No matter the weather, our true place as creatures of the planet Earth is out in nature.
Today, if you do nothing else for yourself, take a walk under that tree or up that hill. You’ll be glad that you did.
Blessings!
