It may seem obvious for me to say “there is beauty in nature”, but I am challenging you to take the time to really look. I mean really see it and feel it.
It has been a very long while since I have written a blog. Life has been busy — more than usual — but all is good. Despite the fact that it feels like my attention is being pulled in a hundred directions, I still have my dog, Delray, to attend to. She is in large part the reason for my daily walks. Well… she gives me the push I need to get out. Once I am out there, I could walk for hours.
A Walk In Nature Encourages You To Slow Down
So it is thanks to Delray, that I take a little chunk out of my hectic day to get outside and walk. It gives me a chance to slow down and open my eyes to the beautiful things around me. I love the part of our walk that takes us through the ravine. In our neighbourhood, there are many sidewalks in all directions, but we are always drawn at some point to the ravine.
Despite the fact that you can hear the hum of the traffic from two major streets, which are over a kilometer away in both directions. When I am in amongst the trees and streams, I still feel like I’ve been transported to a faraway place. No worries. No responsibilities. And no clocks. I walk a little more slowly and watch the pleasure in Delray’s leaps and bounds when she spots a squirrel or picks up the scent of a bone (if there are skeletal remains of a forest dweller hidden or someone’s tossed left-overs over their fence…Delray is hot on the trail!)
Me?!? Well, I am more interested in the beauty of and lessons from nature.
A rare trillium amongst the usual white ones – red — and unlike the others — it tells me:
“There are beauty and strength in being different from the masses.”
The artistic shape of a root ball from a tree that lost the fight with a wicked wind storm — it tells me:
” That even when it seems we have lost a battle, we have to take the learning from it, make a change somehow, and find a new purpose.”
Or, sometimes…just the positive feeling of ‘hope’ that new spring flowers convey while standing proud with a layer of freshly fallen snow at their base and sprinkled on their leaves. They are not complaining, nor should we.
You see — there is beauty in everything. We just have to take the time and make the effort to see it. Positive energies and positive attitudes beget positive energies and positive responses. I try to teach my children that every day.
So happy spring! Enjoy your day and keep your eyes wide open for the beauty in EVERYTHING, for there is always beauty around you.
