Entry #3- The Wisdom of Nature

October 4, 2013
2:03 PM
Weather is warm, in 70's, sunny with fluffy white clouds

Today the weather is sunny, comfortably warm with a soft breeze, and they sky is baby blue interspersed with puffy white clouds that look like cotton candy.



I sit on a bench in the middle of the park, nestled in the middle of tall trees, a canopy of outstretched limbs. I feel a bit sad today, not exactly sure why, but I relish in the solitude nature provides. I really don’t feel like interacting with other people today, I need time alone with my thoughts and feelings. I can only stay for a short time before I venture to work, where solitude vanishes the moment I walk across the threshold. I enjoy my privacy, solitude, and quietness in my favorite place. I take a few deep breaths, purifying and renewing. I can breathe here. It is intoxicatingly quiet.

As I sit on the bench, a few bugs decide to land on my arm, but I try to brush them off gently, so I do not hurt them. No matter how small, how hideous some appear, they are still living things, and I do not feel like I have the right to kill one for no reason. I glance up at the trees with their colorful leaves towering over me, and feel small in their presence. An array of leaves in different shades of brown, yellow, red, and orange, decorate the green grass like confetti, as if the trees threw a party in celebration of fall.

I set eyes on a handful of ducks that sit on a path by the lake. I admire the peacefulness they radiate, how they rest without a care in the world. The elements of nature take on the role as my teacher, and I welcome the wisdom. The ducks urge me to quiet my mind, to rest, to take time to sit and do absolutely nothing but enjoy the present moment. The trees, like wise elders, remind me I am never alone and my problems only seem immense and unsolvable sometimes, like trying to piece together a puzzle with missing pieces, but in reality they are not as complex as my mind makes them. I can choose to label situations in my life as problems, or as opportunities to change and grow. It is much easier to take on this attitude with “small” problems, not the “big” ones in my life, like a sick family member. How can I feel peaceful and at ease in the midst of these types of problems, when fear grips my heart like a vice? Hopefully nature reveals her secrets, I trust she will.

Nothing but the sound of quiet pervades my surroundings. The wind makes her presence known by gently rustling the leaves in the trees, touching my face with her soft hand, blowing my hair gently with a gust of her breath. I need to come back here often, more than once a week. My soul craves this solitude, peace, and quiet like an addict craves a drug. My soul needs this like a daily dose of medicine, as a treatment to the chaos of daily life, the chaos of my mind. Life reveals itself all around me, without another human being in sight.

I don’t want to leave, but I check the time and I cannot be late for work. I will leave the solace of this place for now, but I will return soon. I can still feel nature’s presence as I drive to work, she promises to keep me company until I can return again.