The Easy Way To Transcend Yourself Through Nature
I called for her and Mother Nature turned up in her place
Has a wild animal ever chosen to hold eye contact with you?
As she circled me, she held my gaze. I’m not sure who was the more curious of us. Her presence brought a timeless serenity. She washed over me like a meditative trance.
Close encounters with wild animals pause my world. They stun me in the presence and leave me in awe. This beautiful dolphin chose to swim with me. I entered her world as an invitation to connect, and she graciously RSVP’d with elegance and charm.
My memory bank is full of mesmerizing connections with other species. Individual creatures who chose to approach me.
Just yesterday, a rare Bullfinch landed on my window sill. We locked eyes, and she cocked her head as if to ask me a question. And then she was gone. Her bright pink chest was puffed and proud. What was she asking me?
Then there’s the barn owl. This wise blonde bombshell took me by surprise mid-run. She swooped down, missing my head by a meter. We stood, transfixed by each other. My feet on the trail and her talons on a branch, gazing into each other’s eyes. What was she trying to tell me?
For they all have a message. A word of caution or encouragement. Nature’s creatures visit us to restore our faith and boost our spirit. Are they messengers from late loved ones? Are they spiritual guides gently maneuvering us back onto the right path when we have strayed?
These interactions jerk me back from sleepwalking through my day. They shake up my spirit. They draw my attention away from worries for the future or ruminations over the past. Interactions with wild animals truly restore our inner peace.
Having a wild animal look into my soul leaves me feeling seen. I become relevant, beautifully conspicuous, and as if I matter. To be chosen for connection by creatures of this earth is a privilege.
But perhaps my most special nature connection of all time was with Mother Nature herself.
She answered my desperation. She soothed my anguish and restored my faith.
Several days after my beloved Vizsla dog, Princess Jasper, passed away, I stumbled blindly in my local hills. I had to get out of the house. I walked trance-like through vistas that were once so familiar. I felt alien in an environment that was once a landscape hug.
I always said Princess Jasper wasn’t over the rainbow. She was the rainbow.
The sun stroked my face reassuringly, and she enticed me forward. But I could see grey in the sky. Slowly droplets of rain tentatively fell in front of me. The rain merged with my tears and distilled my confusion.
I don’t know what came over me. But the desperation to see Jasper in her rainbow form possessed my frontal lobe. I searched the skies in vain hope. The rain stopped, and the sun joined me again. I was furious. My opportunity of seeing Jasper perished.
Where was my rainbow? Where was my Jasper?
I called for her as a woman possessed. I moved through the hills shouting for my dead dog. Despairing and distressed, I willed Jasper to appear.
And she did — in her new form.
Mother Nature delivered.
She provided me with the most striking half-arch rainbow right in front of my path. The vision sent me crashing to the ground. I lay in the heather gasping for breath as I looked up at the vision before me.
Then as quickly as Jasper appeared, she disappeared again. Luckily, not before I had the time to take a final photo of Jasper and Zac together as she made her final goodbye.
The universe is listening.
As Jasper faded into the depths of the sky, a sense of calm infiltrated my body. I felt a release in my veins. My inner turmoil evaporated.
Mother Nature saw the storm in my heart. She showed up when I needed her most. She soothed my suffering in a way I will never forget. Mother Nature restored my sense of balance and helped me grieve the most precious soul I have ever known.
Thank you for reading Ali Hall
This piece is in answer to a prompt set by Yana Bostongirl and pockett dessert in Coffee Times.
A wonderful answer to this prompt is by Dr. Preeti Singh