And Into The Forest I Go
to lose my mind and find my soul
― John Muir
I love to dream that I follow in the footsteps of John Muir, Henry David Thoreau and Mary Oliver when I go into the woods. I love to think that I'm keeping good company with the ghosts of naturalists. It is where I find my solace, comfort and peace as I am sure it was for them. I'm not so much in love with domestic flowers as I am with wildflowers. Trees and leaves and wild curlique and twisty things that grow with abandon in the woods, are the things that bring happiness to my soul. There is a quiet joy that can only be found walking amongst old trees that seem to watch over and protect everything beneath them. Including me.
I have a small collection of souvenirs from my walks in the woods that you can visit on my Flickr page by clicking here if you would like to. For a few moments, maybe it will take you away from your daily life of email, spreadsheets, phone calls and Zoom meetings. It is my hope that if you do 'take a walk with me' there, that you will come away with the same calm and grounding that it gives me.
The Japanese have a term for this emotional experience, Shinrin-yoku and can be defined as taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing. There are many websites online that will advise of the incredible physical and mental health benefits of spending time in this type of environment. While you probably will not reap those same benefits from merely looking at photographs of the woods, I am willing to suggest that your outlook and your day will definitely feel a little brighter. I recommend viewing photos of any natural environment full screen.
How I go to the woods
Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single
friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore unsuitable.
I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of
praying, as you no doubt have yours.
Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
unhearable sound of the roses singing.
If you have ever gone to the woods with me,
I must love you very much.
― Mary Oliver
Nita, your blog is wonderful! Esthetically it is gorgeous, calming, peaceful, uplifting, and I find myself dropping right into it with your beautiful photos and layout. Plus I'm enjoying your writing very much. I'm a big Mary Oliver (And Anthropologie ;) fan as well. I'm going to try to figure out how to follow you!
ReplyDeleteHi Debby! What a lovely comment, thank you. I'm glad that you are enjoying the blog and not surprised to learn that you are a Mary Oliver fan as well. Birds of a feather and all of that :)
ReplyDeleteI had to figure the 'follow' thing out as well. If you'll go to your Blogger dashboard and on the left side find "Reading List", you can then put the URL of my blog there. Alternatively, you can also subscribe by email in the sidebar by clicking the arrows on the home page at the top to slide it out, and then input your email address into the text field under, "Get On The List". Either way, I'm so happy that you would like to keep up with me here. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment! All my best.