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Kathy Donchak

Sunday Letter: A Walk in Nature Can Change Everything

Published 3 months ago • 1 min read

“Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye... it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.”
~ Edvard Munch

Being immersed in a forest for the past few weeks has me thinking about the connection between biodiversity and neurodiversity. We have been noticing things. The colonies of trees and the soft carpet of mosses, from far away, look the same, but getting closer reveals an understory. A diverse ecosystem of plants living harmoniously, supporting the growth of one another.

For me, a walk in nature can change everything. I see things in my life differently with every encounter.

My husband commenting on the ferns at the base of trees and how the experience transports him into a feeling of being in an old forest shifts my story of the forest. It creates an opening to imagine something new.

Associations can flood our minds as we combine our present moment experience with our inner narratives. An old forest can represent a new story. Every encounter mirroring the diverse ways we interact with nature. Each step revealing who we are in our most natural state, as our gifts and capacities are awakened and shared.

A new story woven together through the diverse ways we each take in the world.

Be well,

Kathy

Kathy Donchak

I write about nature, family, creativity, and wellbeing.

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