19 May 2022
I often think about life and its meaning when I’m sat watching Henri hunting and playing in the wood. Since he came into my life I want to be outside more than inside and time seems to just slip by, I have rarely felt so happy or content.
Today, in just one single day, I have stumbled upon a female pheasant with six chicks, stood a metre away from a chiffchaff, held a baby blue tit in my hand, watched bats flying over my garden and picked up a May bug from the lawn to rescue it from another kitten attack! When we walk around the wood together I see the wildlife just getting on with life as nature intended and of course, Henri wandering around chasing anything that moves; the sights and sounds of the natural world crowd my head and drown out the thoughts flying around in my brain. They all just fade away; no more sadness about the past and no more anxiety about the future. I suddenly get a glimpse of what the problem is with people. We have too much time to think. We don’t need to hunt and gather, find shelter, or survive anymore so we are always lost in our heads instead of living in the moment. When I see Henri he is focused on all his senses. His ears are moving around like a radar listening for things rustling in the undergrowth and he is sniffing for scents carried in the air. He is right there in the moment. He is not thinking about anything else and certainly not checking his watch for the time or messing around on his mobile phone!!
So my moment of enlightenment came to me...stop thinking and just be.
I have sat quietly looking up into the trees and have seen two tree creepers, discovered there is a nest of nuthatch chicks above my woodland hut and stood next to a baby rabbit and a young squirrel.
I notice things I didn’t notice before, I have a heightened sense of what is going on around me. I have woken up; I’m here in the moment, I have arrived…maybe? This is awareness, I want more of it!
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