Nine months living here in our new house and only last weekend did I explore the bushland reserve at the end of our street. Despite walking together often, for some reason I just hadn't ventured that far. Miss three had been exploring there a few times before though with her Dad, and so she happily led the way to "the forest".
And although homes are still close by, there was a coolness and a calm that came with being surrounded by trees, bush and scrub and walking with mud, twigs and stones underfoot.
I kept looking through the tree branches at the sky peeking through. Sometimes a clouded white, other times the brightest blue tainted with spots of stormy grey. It was as though the sky wasn't sure how it was feeling. And neither was I actually. A part of me just wanted to rest and be left alone, a part of felt a little run-down, and another part of me wanted to be busy and move ahead and on to the next thing on my to-do list. I was feeling exhausted, disorganised and a tad overwhelmed.
But I settled on surrendering to the moment, heading outdoors and letting miss three lead our way. I decided not to check the time as we went or to think about what needed to be done or where we soon needed to be.
We walked in circles, backtracked and then ran paces ahead. Looking to the sky together, we wondered about where the drifting clouds were headed. We paused to listen to the birds singing, to collect twigs and look for the brightest shades of green and new life in the bush.
In letting my little one set the pace, I found myself slowing down, letting go and surrendering to the moment, and embracing her curiosity. In those moments of just us, nature and that winter sky, my head stopped spinning. And I saw her and me and us together much clearer than before.
xx
Do you like to walk in nature? Does it bring you clarity? And do you {like me} find you sometimes need a reminder to surrender, let go and just be?
Nature is my go to place to find myself to think, to clear my head, to just be and to find peace. My little man and I head into nature everyday...it is a must in our home. We all benefit from it :)
ReplyDeleteOh yes indeed. I need to be in Nature to let go all the strains I feel in this world. It is always a space apart for me. A time for reflection and quiet, even when my boys are jumping from rock to rock shouting "look at me , Mama! Look at me!"
ReplyDeletethis is so so wonderful! thanks so for your wonderful piece. xo
Oh the bush or the beach are definitely my go-to places to find calm...we're so lucky here that we can find deserted areas so easily
ReplyDeleteLovely writing Elisa
x
Yes! I find the bush so peaceful. It's one place where we put our judgement aside. When I lived in London one of my favourite things to do was go to Highgate Woods and stare up at the big old trees, the swaying branches, imagining how long their roots had been in the ground for.x
ReplyDeleteI love nature. My favourite places are forests and beaches. I've discovered my love for nature when I moved here to Australia. We are so lucky to have such big spaces just 5 minutes from our houses. Thank you for sharing your beautiful thoughts XXX
ReplyDeleteThe older I've got (and I think becoming a mother) has made me yearn for more nature. More wildness. It's the major reason we're upping sticks from city life to a life by the sea. For me the depressing state of our country politically and the overwhelming time spent online in some form has made me crave a more natural existence too.
ReplyDeleteOh, that forest looks beautiful. We have a little reserve close to our place, too, but nothing like the real bush.
ReplyDeleteYes. When my kids were littler, we would go to the woods/lake/stream/field/mountain and just be. I have to keep being intentional about making this happen, but they push back a bit more now than they used to {they are 6 and 4}. I LOVE nature. They love their friends and their technology. So we are working on that wilderness appreciation. :) Nature really centers me and removes all the overwhelm, laying bare the things that really matter. Love this post!
ReplyDelete