Is it really mid July? I'm not sure how that happened. Honestly, I'm not. I always vow to slow things down...like time for example...yet lately the daily to do's seem to grab me faster then I can blink.
Yet even through the busyness and time seeming to fly, I have definitely found many pockets of slow...
Summer has been great and we have gotten out a lot. We've done hiking and kayaking, made our annual strawberry picking, have done lots of creek play...catching squirmy, slimy creatures, meeting up with friends on a consistent basis and lots of ice cream in the mix. I've enjoyed it all for sure, yet at the same time, this year I've been struggling to find the slowness that these long summer days usually seem to bring.
Perhaps in my mind I just want to fit it all in. Places I want to take my boys for the day. Places I want to travel to...a chance to show my boys even more of the beauty of our world. There are a million books I want to read to them, to myself. Things I want to do for my photography business. Things I want to do on the house. Things I need to do with our rentals.
And this past week and a half? Whoa...I'll just say...it's been a lot.
And here we sit, mid-July, where I feel summer should just be starting, my friend mentioned the other day how she feels summer is over, for it's only a month and her daughter goes back to school.
How can that be?
The to do's and the want to's in my head take up a lot of space. Yet I have found the one place they stop...almost completely...and that's out in nature. It's almost as quick as a light switch. I step out and so does all the busyness in my mind. On the kayak, it's just me against the gentle waves, bird song close by as the hot sun warms my skin. On a hike it's my mind lost in the forest, bird song high up in the trees (and yes, I'll be honest, some of the most annoying bugs here and there at times), all around me. The sweet air and the sound of the leaves in the breeze is instantly calming. Watching my boys play in the creek, the excitement in their voices as they catch and pick up creatures with their bare little hands, fearless of the world around them. It's the cool blades of grass beneath my bare skin, the flowers blooming once again in our garden, the song of the birds and the cries of the their babies. My boy's sandy feet and muddy hands. The lightning bugs that light up the night.
The simplicity of it all. Nature is just there doing her own thing yet without trying she has the most profound impact on me and my boys.
Time is flying this year for sure, and lately it seems to double in speed. Yet without nature to guide me and slow it down it would all be a blur. Yet what nature provides gives me the greatest reason to stop and sense it all. The sounds, the smells, the feelings it leaves me with. The gentle reminder to stop and soak it all in, my boys, their little hands and beautiful smiles. Their calls of 'mom' for the millionth time in a day.
Just taking the time to write this truth out gives me that sense of slow again. The amazing thing is, nature is accessible to each and every one of us. It's a choice even for the busiest of souls. Five minutes of scrolling aimlessly or five minutes of sunlight.
I'll be honest, it's so easy to get caught up in other things. Things that make time fly that much faster, and sometimes we don't have a choice. Yet I have found when I do have a choice, which is more often then not, I try to always choose time in nature. I hope you can take some time to get out there too, even through these busy days. It's incredible what nature can do for your mind and your soul. You don't have to do anything other then step out and pay attention to the beauty that is around you.
