Chaos is Futile

“Consider the lilies, they neither toil, nor spin, yet your Heavenly Father clothes them in splendor” ~~ New Testament

Our world is surrounded by noise and distractions. In a way, our lives reward us for chaos. We are consumed with our schedules so much so that we are provided little time for self reflection. In the incredibly noisy world we live in, it is necessary to calm the call to busyness.

In David Honore’s book, “In Praise of Slowness” he says the British government has released statistics showing that the average parent spends more time each week attending to emails, than they do to speaking to their children. In this media-drenched, data-rich, channel-surfing, computer-gaming age, we have lost the art of doing nothing, of shutting out the background noise and distractions, of slowing down and simply being alone with our thoughts.

When did we gone wrong?

We are surrounded by the natural world with all it’s simplicity, beauty. Nature moves at it’s own pace and never rushes, unless it is a mountain stream with melting run off from the winter snow. Lakes and ponds, oceans and forest, beaches and plains are a part of this magnificiant creation we call Earth. So, why, do we walk past those wildflowers that sprung up, for our eyes only. Can you not feel the life force within their beauty wanting and hoping to speak to you mind and your soul?

When we do not take time out of our day, to simply be with nature and our own thoughts, our mind becomes cluttered with too much information and to many chaotic and confusing signals. Even when we are in nature, some of the time, we are still focused on the next big challenge, and more and more accomplishments and pay little attention to the stillness afforded us in nature. I believe with all my heart, that the world wants us to slow down.

In our world, even the practice of Yoga is not immune to the force to go hard or go home. Recently I read, where a man in his 30’s now has permanent numbness in his right thigh after tearing a sensory nerve during a Yoga session at a fashionable Manhattan Yoga Studio. Why have we Westernized a centuries old path so that it causes an entire demography of our population to push harder and harder causing pain and discomfort? . Why is there now a dichotomy between true yoga, and the kind of yoga practice that is not about meditation and reflection, but about pushing the body to it’s limits?

In Japan, natives have a saying called, “karoshi”, which means, “death by overwork.” In 2001, the government reported 143 deaths by Karoshi. However, critics put Japan’s, death by overworking in the thousands.

If there were no wilderness, no oceans, mountains or forests, what would our lives become? Many believe we would cease to exist. Without trees, our world cannot absorb the carbon monoxide in the atmosphere and turn it into oxygen so we can breath. Without the simple breath in our lungs, within 3 minutes we would die. Why do we not honor that breath?

When we focus on wilderness instead of all of our pushing and striving; nature strips away at the momentary chaos. There is a universal peaceful surrender when we dwell in stillness, silence and reflection. God’s natural creations were designed to nourish our souls, strengthen our bodies and calm our mind. To recharge our internal “batteries” we need only to step outside our front door. Stop and notice the small and minute details God has positioned in nature for us to relish and enjoy. God’s timing is not our timing, and His way is inifinitely more gentle and kind. He is not in a hurry, and He does not stress when a deadline is missed or a our self imposed call is not finished.

Einstein’s law of quantum physics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. It merely changes shape. If that is the case, then what would the energy of the high desert, or the peacefulness of the mountain stream, look like compared to the energy in Times Square? We deserve to have our own quantum energies be shaped to fit the beauty of the world that is all around us, stripping away at the noise and ceaseless chatter.

When I venture into mature, I just want to sink into the landscape. The mountains above me and around me. The forest engulfing me like a cradle. The wind, the birds, the air, the smells. All those things that come together and are all connected to each other. I believe this kind of connection to nature is essential for our mental, physical, spiritual and emotional well being. Only God can grow a tree, and the forest, mountains, plains and prairies are His design and handiwork. These are some of His most spectacular gifts, just waiting patiently for us to discover them.

I gravitate towards places like streams and trails, rivers and valleys, because they give me the sense of something so much bigger than myself. It takes me out of my small minded, detail oriented obsessiveness to a place, magnificent and majestic. In doing so, I feel bigger, and I come away inspired with new ideas, thoughts and way of conquering life’s challenges. It burns in me a feeling of empowerment. A feeling, which is so big, it says to me, I am part of this fabulous expansiveness.

When I go to nature and I walk in solitude, and turn off my playlist, and focus on the beauty that surround me, I learn more about myself. I become better acquainted with my strengths and my weaknesses. I am given a vision of how I want to be in the future. Life is like a river, with twists and curves and the outdoors are great places to reflect on the paths life has for us to choose from.

I believe the beauty of our world was created for our enjoyment and when we are under stress or unhappy in our constnt striving for perfection, it has the ability to heal us in ways n medication can. Mother nature is perfect in all of her faults, just as we are. Time and time again, we find when we travel out into the wilderness untouched by man’s destruction, we find a part of ourselves that is bigger than our mortal bodies.

We need to get back to our organic selves. We eat organically, why can we not nourish ourselves with the purest organic landscapes on earth that surround us everyday? Let go of everything that distracts from its wonder. Turn off our social media notifications. Stop being bounced from app to app alerting of us to more and more busyness, a never ending stream of constant distractions. Wilderness is a gateway to a deeper understanding of ourselves and waits patiently for us to discover Her beauty and healing salve for our spirit and our souls.

Go out and wrap your heart arouond all that has been supplied for us in this heavenly world. Why waste one more moment of your day with endless post-it notes to your kids, and emoji’s to your friends. Walk with them, instead, along the path of self discovery. Nature has a way of showing us there might still be a Garden of Eden right in our own backyards, National Forests and City parks.