Moment of Gratitude: The Beauty of Nature

Recently, I have to confess, I have felt a little bit off-center, as it were.

While I recognize that the situation of the world is far beyond my control, and that worrying about it is most likely a pretty useless waste of energy, I can't help but feel a little bit out of sorts about all the wars and violence of the human species.

Things like kindness and compassion seem so far between these days, and for many those things are even regarded as some kind of weakness. Which strikes me as pretty nuts.

I also recognize that part of my problem is probably that I'm stuck in front of my screens too much of the time. I tend to fall into a pattern of claiming that I "have no choice," but we always have a choice.

Granted, I make 90% of my living from online activities so I can't just completely turn my back on it, but I can limit it my exposure and I can make sure that I step away from the screens on a regular basis.

And so it was that I arrived at early afternoon on this day and decided that I just couldn't sit there anymore trying to process photos to put on eBay to appeal to people who seem increasingly disinclined to want to spend money on anything... not that I blame them: I know far more people who are in the process of going broke, than people who are enjoying success.

In a different life, in the very distant past, I used to reply to people who asked me where I went to church that "nature is my church."

30 years later, I still pretty much stand by that assertion, and not only is nature my church it is also my place of healing when the world feels excessively overwhelming and unfriendly.

I slowly drifted around on our property for about 30 minutes or so... just looking at nature coming back to life after it's winter dormancy. There might be a war raging somewhere, but there's also birdsong everywhere along with an abundance of Spring's early blooms.

Today — which also happens to be Easter Sunday — was the first sunny day we have had where there was no wind and it actually started feeling slightly warm. So after taking in the sights of the garden, I wandered down the steep hill towards our little neighborhood beach where I ended up sitting on a big driftwood log for about 30 minutes, just watching the wavelets lapping the edge of the shore while ducks and seagulls were fishing in the shallows.

It reminded me a bit of a very old exercise in "being present" that I learned while at a spiritual retreat back in the 1990s.

You ask yourself "what is wrong with this moment?" Most likely the answer is absolutely nothing. Then you wait 30 seconds and ask the same question "what is wrong with THIS moment?" Again, the answer is likely nothing. In the end, you come away with the realization that there's really nothing wrong with most of your moments and whenever you're feeling something is wrong it's most likely manufactured in your head and not a reflection of actual reality in your surroundings.

Most human beings end up worrying considerably about things they really have no control over. We often put a great deal of energy into that worry, but to what end? The "reward" usually ends up being stress, while nothing tangible aqctually changes!

Whether I choose to feel worried, or not feel worried, it is very likely to not have any effect whatsoever on the fact that there are wars in the Middle East and ICE agents randomly deposting people who don't actually deserve it.

Meanwhile, worrying about my taxes isn't going to do anything to get them filed or paid for. The only tiny bit of control I have is to get up off my duff and do the paperwork — which I hate — required to complete the process of my tax statements.

We will most likely end up owing money — which we don't have — so we will most likely end up having to be in some kind of payment plan to even get that taken care of. But worrying about it isn't going to make it any better.

At the end of about an hour out there, I did feel like a fair amount of weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt more able to just sit back and go "well, this is what life is serving up at the moment," without losing my mind in the process.

Tomorrow, I will continue working on the taxes and just get them done, regardless of whether or not we owe something.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit, and I hope you had a good Easter weekend (if you celebrate) and otherwise I wish you a great week ahead!

Comments, feedback and other engagement is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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2026.04.05 23:44 PST
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