Have you ever done something you knew you probably shouldn’t? It’s not a wise thing to do but you do it anyway? Well, that’s where I’m at. Lately, I’ve been spending about 15 hours of homework on the weekends (sometimes 10 hours per day), plus throwing a few hours for lesson plans, then working full-time during the week, with meetings and this-and-that every other day after work. I’m burning out. Everyone says to keep the work-life balance but it’s physically impossible.
Today I said, “No.”
No to homework. No to lesson planning. No, thank you.
Instead, I escaped to the woods.
I hiked at Brigadoon State Nature Preserve where I felt the dirt under my feet. I walked over tree roots and avoided several tiny frogs jumping just inches from my feet.
I smelled the changing air. The smell where summer loses its grip and the sweetness of autumn creeps in. I walked into spiderwebs, jumped, laughed…and felt alive.
And there it is… the change. It’s starting.
The forest floor is a never-ending treasure trove. I delight in all the little treasures I find. Someday they will make their way into my sketchbook as a watercolor painting and live there for the life of that book…far outlasting my own life. That’s the goal.
This tiny feather belongs to a downy woodpecker. I love the spots on the delicate feather’s edge. I don’t know where he is right now but he left a piece of himself that makes me visualize a beautiful creature flying from tree to tree. Even my mind becomes alive in the forest.
For the rest of this day, I will sit outside and be close to nature. Sometimes in life, you have to say “no” to things you ought to do and say yes to living.
Keep your connection with nature, my friends.
Christine
Let's Paint Nature! 