Whatever You Perceive, the Meaning Given to an Event, Becomes True for You
By: Bridget Webber
Tags: Life Lessons, Short Story, Psychology, Fiction, Mental Health

The copper beech bows down to touch my shoulders; nature’s way of soothing, perhaps? Of course, whatever you perceive, the meaning given to an event, becomes true for you.

“We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts.”-William Hazlitt

The natural world’s always embraced me with kind arms. It sighs as the gentle wind on gray days and I enjoy the sun’s warmth on my skin as an expression of harmony and hope.

Sometimes, often late in the afternoon, your heart may feel heavy. Or your mind congested with the day’s idiosyncrasies; challenges that threaten to trip you, or little quirks in the matrix that shake your joy.

When this happens, I put on my walking shoes and head for the meadows, hills and woods, or amble by the river. Or I might stroll along a dusty wildflower-lined path to see where it leads.

And as I do, my head clears.

“If I must be rooted, plant my feet in rich soil, let my womanly flesh harden to bark, and let my limbs, robust in sleeves of evergreen, keep reaching for the sun.”-Jane Elle Glasser

The freshness swipes away dark clouds and reminds me most, no, none of the concerns that irked me are mighty warriors.

They are thought-forms; self-made creations or players on the stage. They aren’t real unless I choose them to be so.

When I focus on each footstep on the grass or mud track, or hone attention to a bird that sings a lullaby, I recall this is what’s real, not thoughts of the past or second-guesses about the future.

The beauty of the dew on a spider web, the color of sunset, and wild rose scent in the hedgerow are more real — and timeless — than those small tears in the fabric of perfection I may allow, for a fraction of time, into my reality.

“ The more civilized man becomes, the more he needs and craves a great background of forest wildness, to which he may return like a contrite prodigal from the husks of an artificial life.”-Ellen Burns Sherman

There never is a day, even one long and pockmarked, that won’t respond to nature’s call. Once I remember what’s real — what counts — I am free to be present, and everything else falls away.

The power of wildlife, the birds, and trees, to fill your soul with beauty and calm, however, rests within you; as it does with me. We control the subjects we pull into our gaze and focus on; what we make grow.

After a long day, you know the type, when one thing after the other snaps at my heels, I walk into clarity among the tall grasses and across the hills.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature–the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”-Rachel Carson

The wind clears debris from my back and sends it as fluttering confetti to fade in the last rays of sun.

Perhaps I’m lucky — I know I am. But, I’m also aware you must train your brain to seek what you want more of and let go of what you dislike. You can teach your mind to absorb nature and release stress, one step at a time, until it’s habitual.

At the end of a tiresome day, I rejuvenate. Shake off the jetsam before I relax. Then I need not take concerns to bed — who wants worries as bedfellows?

But, if one sneaks under the radar, hides in my psyche until late, I climb from my covers and stand outside under the blanket of stars and let my worry fly to the moon.

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.”-Jack Kerouac