Nature, Naturally

She walked down the path to the stream. Tired. So tired. Stopping, she lifted her face to the sun and breathed deeply. The smells of the field filled her.

Opening her eyes again, she decided the stream could wait.  Instead, she sat down in the soft tall grass, the earth's perfume surrounding her. Breathing it in again, she laid down. Now she had a pillow beneath her head. Stretching out her fingers, she ran them over the tops of the tendrils. Soft and strong.

Tears filled her eyes, ran down the sides of her face, and tickled her ears. A sob escaped from her chest and all of a sudden she was racked with cries from deep within. Over and over she let the waves take her as the sun continued to hang in the blue sky.

A sweet summer breeze rose up, from no particular direction, twirling. The grass swayed, danced really. The tender blades, gladly bending to the strength of the wind, tickled the girl's legs and arms. Soft explosive gusts dried the wetness from her cheeks leaving a salty residue, the only evidence she had mourned.

She was quiet now. Listening, she heard the grass and the stream, bubbling a few feet away. Hypnotized, at peace, she closed her eyes. It wasn't dark. The sun shone through her eyelids. Turning on her side, she eventually fell asleep.

Pockets of Sunshine

The world can be a beautiful place.  Maybe not everywhere at the same time but a pocket here and a pocket there joy and happiness are exploding from earth's surface to the heavens.

I eat dinner tonight and I have enough to be full.  I look outside and it is pouring, as is the norm in Florida summer afternoons, and I am inside and dry.

I have my dog sitting on my lap and I feel loved.  He is the best kisser, you know.  When I walk in the door after a long day at work I pick him up and he holds my face with his paws and covers me with kisses.  He bends his head down so that it rests in the crook of my neck.  I try to give him his fill of love back and release him back to the floor when he is ready.

There are pockets of happiness.  Sometimes they are very hard to find and we feel like it is impossible.  There are dark times.  There is always going to be a challenge in one form or another as long as I am alive.

What I need to do is live my life as if I am taking a walk in a forest knowing that at times in my journey the sun has trouble breaking through the tops of the trees but there will be pockets of it, some small and some large, that will warm me and provide light as I hike along.  I may get lost but I need to know I will still have a path whether it is well worn or I am making it as I go.

I also need to remind myself that it is OK to stop to rest.  It is OK to be sad sometimes.  What is not OK is to let the darkness in and take root.  I need to walk through it because somewhere up ahead is another pocket of sunshine.