The joy and beauty of being surrounded by the forest is that it offers instant sanctuary from modern life. Out here you won’t find Alexa, or automated homes, or instant access to anything except your own flowing river of thoughts. I appreciate these walks, in the winter, through nature. Where time has no meaning. Where reflection pulses with the silent life-flow of dormancy. Crunching through wet leaves, silently contemplating.
Droplets of water perched on delicate, thin strands. It's destiny, to evaporate into the atmosphere, or slowly drip into the earth to be re-used. Contributing it's liquid code to the fabric of life.
Nature commands your respect through its beauty. It's asking you to stop, stoop down, and really look at life around you. You just need to listen. Because life exists everywhere. Not just in front of you, and not just in what you can see. It's all around us. Beneath our feet. Microscopic beings swaying to and fro.
Even though this once mighty tree stood tall, grasping at the clouds, now, it gives back to the very soil that birthed it into existence. Now a home for moss, for the mycelial network of mushrooms.
Out here, nature moves at a slower pace. It's not measured in re-tweets or thumby icons. Can't be captured with YouTube snippets. It contains ancient knowledge formed over millennia. Knowledge that circles around the hoop of life, death and rebirth, understanding the concept of harmony with Self is most important. We humans have a bad habit of turning nature into a commodity. Thinking nature exists for our sole purpose. It doesn't.
Take nature away from humanity, we will suffer. Take humanity out of nature, it will thrive.
The long screech of a Red-tailed hawk cuts through the silent morning. I hurry to change out the lens on the camera, but the majestic bird turns away. That's okay though. Instead, I watch the hawk swoop out over the rolling fields beyond the woods. Closing my eyes, I imagine the crisp, cool air curving over the wings of perfect, aerodynamic harmony.
Sights like this humble me. Moments like this are so simple, they'll hold forever in time. Because they're real. The sounds, the smells, the sights, imprint themselves into memory. Simplicity brings awareness. And awareness opens up your mind, your soul, your heart. These parts of yourself integrate into the cascading rhythm of life, unbound. Life not covered over with concrete scars. Life untamed and free. And that feels the most natural to me.
Humanity sees objects like rocks and dirt as inanimate objects, but they're very much alive. Moss and stone unite. Nature finds a way to live, to thrive. As humans, as creatures of nature ourselves, we can't forget this simple concept of union.
The hawk fades into the distance. Then silence, like the warm cocoon of a wool blanket, envelops the forest again. The only sounds come from the wet crunching of my steps, the dogs darting through the trees, in hot pursuit of a rocketing grey squirrel. Instincts in action.
It's easy to see a mystical, mythical existence in these woods. Imagination ignites when you're surrounded by the smells of the forest, the quiet encouragement of nature.
In the barks of trees, the steps of nature elevate its insectile populations. Or maybe, some unseen race of nymphs or wood-creatures, jumping from mushroom ledge to mushroom ledge.
But the enormity of nature's knowledge isn't crushing, it's reaffirming. Soothing. The Grandmother that rocks us all asleep. Cosmic scales of beauty and grandeur spread across the landscape. Nature is art given form, seen in the patterns of bark. In the crystalline structure of the melting snow. Even in the dried husks of leaves. I crouch down, awed by their intricate forms...
Skeletal bodies with delicate, lacework patterns. An intricacy unmatched by human hands. Their return to the earth gives life, gives energy, continuing the cycle.
Meandering through the woods, I turn back towards home. Life flows around me, over me, through me. The forest floor is dormant, when rusts and browns and greys paint a wintry scene. But splashes of color stand out. Like lush, green carpets of moss growing quietly over fallen trees.
The mighty will always fall. But in nature, a fall from grace simply means a transition from one state to another. The mighty will fall, but the mighty will give.
My journey nears its end. My immersion bringing a sense of calm and peace.
My foot freezes mid-stride. I step back. I crouch down, to appreciate the tiny mushroom, poking above the surface of the leaf-littered forest floor.
Leaves shelter the mushroom. Nourish it as they return from where they came.
Yes. Nature is a teacher. It teaches you to slow down. It teaches you that every step has a consequence. It teaches you humility, patience. It teaches gentleness and strength. It's a wisdom it freely shares. You just have to open yourself up to it.
Until next time, fair winds and calm seas.
All images taken by me, with a Canon EOS 60D.
