The Great Outdoors

Most folks don't realize the importance of being out in the wilderness.  The peace and quiet that can be enjoyed in nature is unlike any other kind of serenity.  It helps to bring the rest of the world into perspective.  It also shows the kind of respect we need to have for everything.  Mother nature has her own way of showing us how insignificant we really are in the bigger picture of life.  In society we may be an important person.  In our families we may be an important person.  In every other respect of life we may have some kind of significance.  To mother nature though, you are just another animal that can live or die.  You are just food for something else.  You are responsible for yourself and whether you come back or not.  Most of us in the "real world" have lost contact with that inner animal instinct.  That's not to say that we have to lose our humanity for that kind of basic instinct.

I have a real connection with the outdoors.  I have been an outdoors-man for many many years now.  As soon as I was able to get out on my own in the forest, that's where I have always enjoyed being.  I can remember as a child roaming the Bankhead forest on my grandpa's land.  As I grew up I learned about camping, hunting, fishing, and hiking.  I learned that just being out there "in it" brought me more comfort and joy.  The other thing I learned was that mother nature will provide you with what you need.  You just have to know how to find it.  I also learned that you had better be prepared when you go out there.  Mother nature doesn't care if you are prepared or not and will not have mercy on you either way.

The other thing about mother nature is the magical experience that I get when I am part of her.  The experience is an energy that can transcend a mere mortal feeling and seem other worldly.  Sitting in the forest can give you a sublime peace that nothing else can compare too.  I have felt the blinding effect of pure energy that the woods can emit.  It's a hair raising experience if you open your soul to her song that she will pluck on your heart strings.  The simplest song from a bird can lift your spirit from a bottomless pit of gloom to a pearly gate in front of a golden street.  It's always there if you let it speak to you.  It doesn't take any kind of special ability to hear the intimate message that she will speak to you if you allow her voice to be heard.  The trick, if that's what you want to call it, is to be calm, relax, and open your feelings to the mystical journey that is waiting for your first step.  It's the journey that some of us wait a lifetime to experience and it's the simplest thing to do, and yet we try so many complicated things to just get to it.  Open your heart and see what the creatures of the forest have to say to you.  They are like a choir that each has a part to sing in a concert that is better if enjoyed in the presences of gods.  If you are ready to experience the simple things in life that the outdoors has to offer, then the choice is truly easy, just step outside.