Ever since I can remember I’ve had a deep appreciation for nature. I had to be outside. As a child, with woods in the front and back yards, I was always playing and collecting found things, (rocks). I had no fear of swimming in ponds or lakes. Free time meant taking a bucket and heading to local streams, playing with salamanders, and catching tadpoles. I would lug the bucket filled with water and tadpoles home. Mysteriously they would disappear over night. My fear of snakes came later as an adult. I loved being in the Girl Scouts. For two weeks every year I went to Girl Scout Camp. Slept in the woods, swam in the lake.
Later in my teens and adulthood I was an avid hiker. I loved being in the woods. Seeing the first signs of spring sprouting, noticing how the growth started from the earth, followed by the low brush and followed by the trees. Magnificent.
We grew up going to the beach, local lakes and trips to the ocean. I much preferred swimming at the community, (man made lake), than at the pool.
As an adult I moved to Florida with my 1st husband. We lived in Flagler Beach. This is between Daytona and Saint Augustine. At that time you could sit in the sand and there would be no one around. I would look at the horizon and imagine seeing it for the first time, no humans, just as it was for centuries. This daydream became a recurring practice,whenever I was surrounded by nature. Later taking the train, Metro North into the city, along the Hudson River, I would look across at the cliffs of the Palisades and again imagine seeing them for the first time, no humans.
Later I learned that this is called, “Imagery.” I’d been doing it for years.
The only place I have ever felt peaceful and calm was being in nature. There is a strong need to find a place that’s not altered by humans. This is how I am able to find myself. Peace comes to me living in the present, whether in the garden, woods, or water. Listening to the natural sounds of nature, birds, the wind, the ocean. Seeing and appreciating all that surrounds you in nature.