I’ve been feeling pretty frazzled lately. Or maybe just exhausted. It’s been a busy few weeks, if not few months. And I have caught myself reverting back to past patterns and getting sucked into old spirals of negativity. I knew I needed to recharge, and the way I recharge is to go outside. I wanted to be camping or backpacking and completely unplugged from technology, but that was not an option, so I chose to sit on the deck and pretend I was sitting outside our tent, with only the natural world to watch. No screens to scroll or emails to check…just Mother Nature.
It didn’t take long and I could hear the birds singing. I do not know my birds or their songs, but I imagined the slight chirp to belong to some small chickadee. The shrill squawks of the crows were easy to pick out. They sounded like they were having a morning spat over what to have for breakfast, or maybe someone stole the other’s breakfast. There was a third set of chatter, louder than the dainty chirps but not as angry sounding as the crows. I scanned the trees to find the source of the noise, to see if I could recognize the species or at least try to look it up later, but all I saw were a few pinecones still clinging to their branches.
I sat and listened and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little movement. A woodpecker was pecking away at the tree at the end of the yard. Then a squirrel skittered across the ground and sprinted up the tree next to it. Another squirrel was scrounging through the pine needles.
I know a similar flurry of activity happens every morning outside my door, but rarely do I take the time to pay attention. The lure of my comfy chair or the self-importance of email messages seems to keep me from doing that which I love to do and so easily do when I'm off the grid and in some remote canyon or mountain wilderness.
My little morning experiment was a good reminder that I don’t have to be in an area without cell service to unplug. It sounds simple, but it’s not easy to slow down and let the world go by without our constant attention. Yet I know how rejuvenating it is to be in a place where phones are only a camera, and Mother Nature is the only entertainment.
Nature reminds me to be patient and present. There is beauty and life everywhere, if we can be quiet and still enough to see it. As with all my outdoor trips, I came away from my 20 minutes of backyard mindfulness feeling calmer and more centered. And with a new idea for project that had been stalled for months. Not to mention a deeper appreciation for the creatures and life outside my door. Amazing how that works.
