I love nature. I truly enjoy being surrounded by it. Seeing it, smelling it, sensing it. I like to discover all the little wonders, and the worlds within worlds. I love to soak the feeling in. Those little rolly bugs under rocks, and birds singing from the branches of the trees. Some better than others. I am enthralled by the all of this beauty and awe. Just so long as I don’t have to sleep in it overnight, in a tent, with the spiders, and their bites on me.
But. What if, one day, there was a grand stipulation. Like, maybe the Grand-Fairy-Godmother-of-All-Nature came down and waved her magic wand. And she made a declaration, that you HAD to lay down in nature to enjoy it.
But she gave us a choice. Two patches of leafy greenery. One on the left, and one on the right. Yes, the new proclamation said that to enjoy the nature, you must pick one of two places to put your butt down.
The first patch was soft and leafy. It was filled with fragrant flowers, which smelled something like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, and newly sprouted pine. And when you flopped down in this patch it was like floating on air. Gentle and silky.
The other patch of green, was thorny, and prickly and craggy. It smelled like pig poop. And if the brambly leaves touched your skin, a horrible rash would ensue. The rash would burn and itch and develop into these red ugly seething bumps.
But it is your choice. You can lay down in either one, and the Grand-Fairy-Godmother-of-All-Nature will be fine with whatever you decide for yourself.
Some things are this way in life I think. It could be the people we meet. We probably prefer being surrounded by the ones who are kind, and soft, and warm. The ones who smell like fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies (which may be the reason they are so happy all the time). The good ones.
Then there are the prickly people. The frowners, the complainers, the ones who treat us poorly. Rough. Bristly. Scratchy.
Which would we rather have in our lives?
And then, there are the patches within ourselves. Our attitudes and reactions and responses toward everything we encounter in our days. Which choice will we be for the people in our lives?
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“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
― Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Mother Night
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“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
― Robert Frost
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“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
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