Let the Sun Shine

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson



I've picked a perfect first week for this project - the sun has been shining and the temps have been in the 70s. I've been outside every day - eating lunch and then taking a walk with a dear friend, paying bills, having a snack, flinging a frisbee with Andrew - all sorts of different activities. It only took a couple of days for me to realize that for this to be meaningful. I was going to have to encounter nature in some way when I was outside. Just sitting on the porch and paying bills feels similar to sitting on the sofa paying bills. Sitting on the porch and watching the lilacs bloom is something altogether different and infinitely more wonderful.

I'm also realizing that this experience is going to require patience which, as Emerson says, I can learn from nature herself. Things are not going to change dramatically for me. I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and run outside, singing "Let the Sun Shine" while I spin in the grass in celebratory circles with arms out-flung and head thrown back. What I want from this is to find ways to integrate nature into my daily life in small but meaningful ways. And I want to get to know my surroundings a bit more.

I have been exploring my backyard and I'm finding out how beautiful and full of life it is. The lilacs, as I said, are blooming; the aspen are showing their leaves, the grass is lush. I have a bunny and some raccoons and a couple of squirrels. I have giant evergreen trees and lovely flowering bushes. Really, I'm blessed to live in such an amazing place and I've been taking it for granted. Even the flower bed that mom and I painstakingly worked to prepare for last summer I let get overgrown and is now full of weeds. There's a great place to spend some time outdoors if I would just give myself time to do it.

So, close to the end of the first week I am reporting some success. I've been patiently going outside and looking for the beauty around me. I've been appreciating new experiences and even my 10 year old son is into it. Now, when he wants to play outside with me and I say no he reminds me, lovingly, "you're supposed to be outside mom - remember?" Ah yes, a change is coming. Singing and dancing are sure to follow. Let the sun shine.