the Great Outdoors

Some times I get in a funk. There are several things I do to get myself out of the funk or put myself into a safe place to ride it out. When I say safe place, I mean a setting where I am not required to give or do more than I can offer while in my low sense of mind. (Don't have to prepare big, messy meals. Not required to discipline, enforce, or referee kids. No time schedule to meet or places we have to be.) 

One of the most powerful and potent medicines I use for curing funks is getting outside. The more mountains, trees, rivers, streams, lakes, flowers, grass, and clouds the better. The outdoors has a dual function. It is both a safe place for me to ride out the funk, and it also repairs my mind. 

My kids are less apt to whine for screen time, play with friends, sugary treats, and entertainment when we are in nature. They play happily on their own which gives me time to be still. To think. To replenish my stores.

I soak in the sunshine. The flowers. The breeze. The branches swaying. The water flowing. And then I feel the fractured pieces of my mind come back together. I feel centered again. 

I have learned when I start snipping and snapping and feeling angry at the world or feeling sorry for myself, it is time to pack the kids in the car and go find nature. And I am never disappointed.