I'm doing something different today. While on my usual morning walk I had this urge to sit for a moment at the edge of a little pond near our house. To just sit and pause. And to listen. It's amazing how many natural sounds are dancing in my ears as I sit here typing up this post on my iPhone. The world is loud with its joy. So many birds clamoring and wanting to be heard. Squirrels sprinting and rushing up trees and having the time of their lives, from what I can tell. A bullfrog's splash. I can even hear the occasional flapping of wings when a bird whirs close by.
I should do this sort of thing more often.
It's healthy to notice the goodness and easy calm of the natural world. I think it speaks to the way things should be. Stress is such a human emotion--one I've been feeling far too much of lately--and these little animals around me now are reminding me of something I too often forget. Life is big. Our perspectives are so very small. Things aren't as dire as we like to think. We should focus more on just living--making noise and running around and jumping for joy like the squirrels.
Now I hear a woodpecker! And acorns falling just in front of me. Oh, and a helicopter. The only man-made sound out here right now, but a very pleasant one since it reminds me of my husband.
A writer inspired by the woods. Could anything be more cliché? Though I don't exactly feel inspired sitting here so much as mellow and calm and just...aware. Grateful. Accepting. Outside my own thoughts and worries.
Ok, back up the hill I go. Thank you, pond and trees and critters, for this little respite.
