My wife and I thoroughly enjoy being outdoors – watching and listening to the orchestration of nature’s song from rustling tree branches or birds communicating with one another.
But in the suburbs where we live, it’s not always achievable to connect with nature.
With dwellings that are uncomfortably close at times, privacy is not often an option and enjoying a little peace and quiet on a bright sunny day is almost an impossibility.
It seems people today have some kind of aversion to existing in silence – to push away all the distractions of life, even briefly, to refocus and reengage themselves with what’s going on around them.
I suppose cluttering our minds with noise is nothing more than a defense mechanism designed to keep our thoughts away from what’s truly bothering us inside. But maybe that’s the problem with people today – they simply can’t be alone long enough to ask themselves the difficult questions that desperately need answers.
In a 1924 speech, Calvin Coolidge exclaimed, “There is new life in the soil for every man. There is healing in the trees for tired minds and for our overburdened spirits, there is strength in the hills, if only we will lift up our eyes. Remember that nature is your great restorer.”
Nature is one of the most amazing technologies this world will ever witness, and yet so often it is overlooked, abused and underappreciated. Maybe it’s time we all turn off all the distractions in our lives and “remember that nature is your great restorer.” It’s there if you’re willing to take it.
A couple of months ago I began engaging in peaceful meditation as a way to escape the stress of everyday life. I let nature become my restorer each morning when I meditate at the beach. I work at the beach so every morning possible I go to work 30 minutes or so early to sit on the sand, close my eyes and let the sound of the waves crashing and the birds speaking to one another restore myself to a peaceful state before starting my work day.
It’s right there…available for natural restoration of your well-being…plentiful and free of charge!
Oh boy, you hit on yet another close to home subject!! Every time I pull into my driveway I say, “These houses are WAY to close together.” The crazy part of this is that my house backs up to a trail on 300 acres of open space..unfortunately people can’t seem to take a nature hike without their cell phone. So each day as I sit on my patio I have to listen to many many cell phone conversations. I like technology…a lot….but sometimes……another good post!
If only owning a huge peice of property didn’t mean paying a HUGE pricetag 🙂