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?
