The Nature Remedy

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir

You know that great saying, “Holding on to hatred and revenge and anger is like taking poison and hoping it kills the other person?” Yeh. We’re the ones who implode and ultimately die from keeping those abhorrent toxins tucked inside our own cells. I know this and yet I have been guilty of such destructive toxin build-up. So overwhelmed by the world of cruelty and sorrow and brutality that I have been greeting each day with white-knuckles, gritted-teeth and verbal tantrums sounding as if they were lifted straight from “The Exorcist.” I am becoming the hate that I hate. Not good.

The Remedy? Mama Nature. Pete and I took off for the day for a gorgeous nature tuck-away in Morrison and instantly I was cocooned by the “Ahhhhh Effect.” Thanking the Universe for the gift of my senses (if you only have a few of them then embrace and use whatever you have!) I took in the soothing sights, sounds, feels, tastes, smells of the natural beauty patiently waiting to be discovered and embraced.

In moments we were tromping beside racing creeks babbling a symphony of sounds that could vie any celestial chorus or pastoral opus. Listen. Birds—chirping, singing, calling to each other with such joy. And splashy, crashy, rolling sounds of water hitting rocks and boulders and logs. Watch. A heart-shaped leaf doing a swirl-dance in the watery ballet and then disappearing into the rapids ahead. Touch. The velvety feel of buds and leaves making early appearances into their spring-still-winter world. Taste. The hit of a wayward drop of water plopping down from a piney sway of leaves. Smell. Air so pure and fresh and clean it almost slices into your lungs like a minty ice shard. Savor. The sweetness of people—clusters of parents and children, the elderly, so many of them walking such happy, panting, muddy, tail-wagging dogs. Passing conversations muted by the roar of creek-sounds and sudden gusts of wind.

One tends to speak in whispers out of respect for the sacredness of it all. We point silently and stroll together-alone in our own thoughts as we parallel along the paths before us. Look, a tiny gold-fish cracker. Makes me smile. As does the little bird rock-surfing down through the fast-moving waters as it pecks for a quick drink and tasty bugs. A father duck guards the river bank from his hidden family in the reeds. We even discover a castle looming high on a ridge at the end of a trail. Are we dreaming? No, it’s just part of the magic.

My lesson for the day is that no matter where and when you turn to the Nature Remedy the effect is instantaneous. It can be outside your deck or backyard or walk around the neighborhood or any and everywhere sweet Mother Nature offers her perspective of peace and harmony. She doesn’t have a thing to do with politics or religion or races or genders or ages or the right or wrong of what’s happening in the mess we humans have made of her gifts of life. She is simply there always—until she ultimately won’t be—to love and be loved. And to help us feel inside—even if it’s temporary—that sense of peace and gentleness and acceptance and kindness for what’s truly important. I highly recommend the Nature Remedy for your sanity and hope right now…