The Woods

Bzzzzzz.

A fly is buzzing past my face, but I stand perfectly still.

I am an intruder in a holy land of tranquility, and to avoid capture I must sense everything and disturb nothing.

I feel the wind caressing every inch of my body.

Whooooosh.

I hear every miniscule sound, the humming of the insects, the chirping of the birds, the rustling of the leaves.

I smell the musk of decaying wood.

I see the colors of the evening sky – the sun’s rays passing seamlessly through the net of leaves above my head, a natural sieve letting the warmth of the sun shower down on me in millions of tiny streams.

I sense it all.

I am one with myself, with the earth.

The woods are my home, they make me who I am.

The natural world releases all my anxiety and I feel a warm peace wash over my heart.

The serenity of the forest slows me down and allows me to be fully present in the moment.

I am reminded of the eternal.

Everything about the woods is interconnected, and when I set foot in them, I feel a connection with something greater than the world.

The animals and plants share a common bond.

The blooming mushrooms, the soaring hawk, the scampering rabbit, the billowing willow – they are all united in their lives and deaths.

They will all eventually die, yet they will remain a part of everything they touched, including me.

A forest has so much wisdom to impart.

Some trees have been there, in that exact spot, for hundreds of years.

What have they seen?

What do they know?

They are willing to share their secrets, if only we listen.

I will learn from these trees, about peace and about myself.

My life will be dedicated to nature.

I want to live in it, work in it, play in it.

I will learn all it has to offer, and then discover new ways to preserve and safeguard the natural world.

Eventually I will be knowledgeable enough about the environment to share what I have experienced and what I believe with others, passing on the value, the beauty and the wonder of the woods.

This is how I want to live, because it is the only way I can feel truly alive.