If you've seen the headlines lately, you know that the United States is fraying at the seams. I don't need to repeat the stories. You know what they are, and you likely know your opinion of them—at least you do if you're an American.
This site is not about politics. I may share my perspective on politics someday, but today is not that day. What I will say, however, is that our world would be a better, less contentious place if everyone spent an hour alone in nature every day.
I emphasize alone because Nature cannot speak over us. We must listen, both to our hearts and to what she has to say.
To quote William Wordsworth:
“Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.“
Being alone, too, allows us to better absorb what we hear. Nature is wise and WILD, but to notice, we must be present.
These land crabs were everywhere, scuttling into their holes in the mud as I came by.
Costa Rica has the prettiest birds! A blue-crowned motmot. (Image from TerraTour Nosara)
When we tune into nature, she reminds us what is important. (And what are we going to do about it?)
She also reminds us what isn't important. (What isn't worth doing anything about?)
This tree is so much bigger than this picture makes it look.
Truth be told, I have spent a lot of time alone lately, particularly on this trip. These images all come from the Reserva Biológica, a biological preserve owned and protected Lagarta Lodge in Nosara, which I explored on my third day in Costa Rica. The reserve was as close to the untamed jungle as it gets, and being there by myself allowed me to become fully immersed in my environment. (I was so immersed, in fact, that I lost the trail a few times and had to search to find my way back.)
And wonderfully, all this alone time has allowed me to become an observer, both of myself and of the world around me. It has helped me think before I act or react or cast judgment on myself or others. It has allowed me to marvel, somewhat childlike, at the magnificence of the natural world, which I might otherwise have passed over.
Being alone has made me realize that I don't have to get caught up in every headline. Instead, I can smile, and take a deep breath, and hold space for myself and the beauty of the natural world, and the people I meet, too...
People like you. :)
The world will always be there. But it would be a lot more peaceful if we all took the time to listen to its call.
Skink lizard.
The Nosara River
“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.“ — Aristotle