What is it about nature that makes you see and feel everything differently?
The body seems to know more about what it needs than we do. It craves water, green, flowers and air that moves through trees. It speaks to nature and nature speaks back.
I am at my best in nature, particularly at the lake which is my refuge from concrete and cars.
Daytime views of wing migration, nighttime views of a gorgeous full moon, shooting stars, the little and big dippers. Swimming, water skiing, sitting quietly, duck watching, listening to the breeze or frequent laughter as it floats across the lake, gardening and the smelling of the earth--all are calming tonics.
One of my absolute favorites...the sighting of the red bird with its happy chirp of "cheer, cheer, cheer, what, what, what." The red bird brings blessing and good fortune which means spotting one is a momentous occasion. The closer it lands to you and the longer it stays, the better.
One landed two feet away from me yesterday in an interesting location (the dogs outside water bowl). Interesting because I was kneeling down in the garden and may not have seen it had it chosen a higher landing pad. It didn't stay long because it also caught the attention of the dogs but as always, it left me feeling happier, more connected and present in the world.
"If you will cling to Nature, to the simple in Nature, to the little things that hardly anyone sees, and that can so unexpectedly become big and beyond measuring; if you have this love of inconsiderable things and seek quite simply, as one who serves, to win the confidence of what seems poor: then everything will become easier, more coherent and somehow more conciliatory for you, not in your intellect, perhaps, which lags marveling behind, but in your inner most consciousness, waking and cognizance." ~Rainer Maria Rilke
