#203: Nature
I feel most comfortable in the world when I am on a walk in the countryside.
In those moments, everything to me is as it should be. There’s a sense of rightness in the world.
I love what I am wearing. I love the practicality of walking boots and comfortable clothing.
I love having everything I need in a bag on my back.
I love the feeling of having enough.
The world around me is atmospheric. Trees surge up high, mud squelches, pebbles crunch, birds tweet, something rustles in the bushes, my sense are alive. The wind dancing through the trees sounds like a ripple of applause. I’m walking through earths colosseum.
I adore being outside in the natural world.
I can be alone, yet I never feel lonely.
I can be with someone and not feel the need to speak.
I deeply belong. I am where I am meant to be.
A touch of a tree, running my hand through a stream or better a full dip in a lake, I feel completely reborn. There’s no time or need to think, my body takes over and I feel what’s around me with all my senses.
I spend much of my life categorising a constant stream of thoughts. Battling my ‘mind-radio' that won’t switch off, it just turns to a different channel. In nature, I have no signal. The thoughts stop, I’m present.
If the mind-radio does pick up signal for a short while, it dips out again and I’m brought back to my senses by the beauty of a vibrant flower or rising hillside up ahead.
Often, a walk in nature might mirror how I’m feeling, or it becomes a metaphor. The steep hill to climb represents a challenge I must overcome, the bog I find myself in is the rough patch I’m trudging through. Perhaps a Robin prompts me to think of someone I’ve lost or I’m no longer in touch with.
The actual walking isn’t even my favourite bit. I don’t think any feeling in the world can replace my delight at deciding to stop for lunch on a walk. Sitting down, getting my sandwiches out of my rucksack and tucking into a basic lunch. I’m smiling now. It’s the most simple and wonderful of moments. Legs splayed in front, food that tastes better than fine dining, looking out into the world ideally on some sort of ridge or viewing point. The simplicity of the moment is perfection.
In deep connection to nature, I feel like I am where I am meant to be, or more so, I feel like I’ve been there before. I feel like I’m in touch with a long line of humans who’ve done the same as I’m doing. Further still, I even feel like I’m doing what my ancestors might have done. Didn’t we all once live off the land? Cavemen once? I’m not quite ready to lose the Berghaus waterproof for a loin cloth, still, I feel a long lined connection to my humanity.
In my final conclusions of this love letter to nature I’ll share another thought I often have that makes me chuckle, either on, or after a walk. This is free! A 30 minute amble or a 6 hour hike and it’s all for free. It’s the best value you’ll get. I’ve spent years dishing out cash to coaches, therapists, yoga classes, floatation tanks and self-development books, all with varying degrees of impact. Spending time in nature has by far the greatest return on investment. It's the best therapy or self-development tool there is.
Being more in nature has irrevocably changed me. It has slowed me down, made me more grateful for what I have, challenged my ideas of what I really need and what matters to me. Nature resets me, restores me and nourishes me. I don’t conquer nature, it conquers me. Bending me to her will, her pace, her life.
In a world full of buzz, noise, supercomputers in the pocket and constant access to a swirl of information all pulling us apart in different directions, nature is a healer and the deep centre of our world. We, I hope, can all agree on nature, there’s nothing to divide us, it’s beautiful, it’s real and it needs our stewardship. Nature can bring us together, or bring us back to life.
Some of the greatest memories in my life revolve around being on walks, outdoors, in nature with the people I love. Dad, Mum, Sarah, family, friends. There’s no better way to spend time with someone, a long time, side by side.
The great outdoors are available to us all, yet we might feel a bit disconnected from them, we might not have grown up with much time spent outdoors or know where to start. Here are a few ways you can get to know nature, or a few prompts for you.
Go for a walk round the block and note what ‘nature’ you can see. It could be weeds, plants, trees, the sky. It’s always there.
Go for a hike with a friend who’s a bit more “outdoorsy” than you.
Take a dip wild swimming, push yourself to feel the cold, you’ll never look back. Google “wild swimming near me”.
Google “best walks near me”.
Play with different modes of being out in nature. Walk, run, cycle.
Go on an adventure. If you’re in a city, jump on a train, find walks that start from a train station on the other side and leave the city for the entire day.
Really look for a long time at trees and flowers. They are outrageously beautiful. Sitting with your back against a tree in a park feels really good.
If you have a garden, tend to your garden. Get your hands in the earth.
Our world is ready for us to connect with it and I believe a deeper connection to the natural world would solve many of our problems. I love our world, I love nature and I love the benefits of being in it. Could we all connect to nature that little bit more? Would we feel the benefit? Would we all benefit? I really believe so.
I’m off to have my breakfast and morning coffee sitting outside looking at the trees. No phone, no laptop, just me, Sarah and the world outside.
Writing
Personally Speaking: Anyone can be an entrepreneur in Staffordshire (Originally published in print)
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