On A Walk

I love to walk and especially walk in nature. It gives me peace and a feeling of being a part of everything. I love the smells, the beauty, the trees, the insects, yes the insects, the animals…..I love it all; except maybe getting stuck in the cold and rain. I was taking a walk the other day with my dog named Crow. Crow is a female who has the coloring of a Louisiana Leopard dog. I had never heard of that breed, and yes, the breed exists. One of the ways I download from the day and disconnect from the virtual, digital world is to go walking, in nature and in the neighborhood. I was taking a walk the other day in an area in the country where I can have her off leash and she stays near me. She and I both love doing this. We had had some extreme rain events and the area was partially flooded so we took a little different route on an old railroad track surrounded by trees, a creek and lots of drying mud. We were enjoying our slightly bumpy walk on the old railroad ties, she was now on a leash, when we heard a cracking sound in the brush and suddenly there was a deer about 50 feet in front of us, standing on the track facing at an angle from us but looking right at us. We stopped and just watched her. She stopped and just watched us. We stood like this for a decent period of time, but time stood still. Then she faced us and stood there. We just watched in place. Soon she took one step towards us and stopped. We took one step towards her and stopped. This went on slowly for about 5 steps, each of us making our way closer. She slightly nodded her head, and I did the same. After a bit, she did it again, and I did the same. We were now about 15 feet from each other, she flicked her tail a couple of times, and the next thing I knew, she took off into the flooded woods. Crow and I looked at each other as if to say something in acknowledgment, and then we went on with our walk along the tracks. I had never experienced a conversation like that with a deer before. I think she was really intrigued by Crow and it was almost like she might have thought Crow was a fellow deer, and then suddenly decided that no, this animal was not one of her kind. Communing with wildlife like that is something many of us have lost in our quest to be connected to the digital world. Take time to disconnect from that reality and open yourself to the wonder all around you and see what happens. This type of connection to all that is around us is one that is being lost. As we make time to be in nature and connect in a very different way, we become much more human and alive and vital. Shift Your Story/Shift Your Life This exercise is a very simple one. Make some time in your day to just take a walk, or to do nothing and to disconnect from your phone and social media world and connect to what is inside of you and what is around you. Make a commitment to do this at least for 15 minutes a day for 2 weeks and see what effects that have on your outer world and inner world. Write down what you feel and experience so you can come back to your insights at any time.

I love to walk and especially walk in nature. It gives me peace and a feeling of being a part of everything. I love the smells, the beauty, the trees, the insects, yes the insects, the animals…..I love it all; except maybe getting stuck in the cold and rain. I was taking a walk the other day with my dog named Crow. Crow is a female who has the coloring of a Louisiana Leopard Dog. I had never heard of that breed, and yes, the breed exists.

One of the ways I download from the day and disconnect from the virtual, digital world is to go walking, in nature and in the neighborhood. I was taking a walk the other day in an area in the country where I can have her off leash and she stays near me. She and I both love doing this. We had had some extreme rain events and the area was partially flooded so we took a little different route on an old railroad track surrounded by trees, a creek and lots of drying mud. We were enjoying our slightly bumpy walk on the old railroad ties, she was now on a leash when we heard a cracking sound in the brush and suddenly there was a deer about 50 feet in front of us, standing on the track facing at an angle from us but looking right at us. We stopped and just watched her. She stopped and just watched us. We stood like this for a decent period of time, but time stood still. Then she faced us and stood there. We just watched in place. Soon she took one step towards us and stopped. We took one step towards her and stopped. This went on slowly for about 5 steps, each of us making our way closer. She slightly nodded her head, and I did the same. After a bit, she did it again, and I did the same. We were now about 15 feet from each other, she flicked her tail a couple of times, and the next thing I knew, she took off into the flooded woods. Crow and I looked at each other as if to say something in acknowledgment, and then we went on with our walk along the tracks.

I had never experienced a conversation like that with a deer before. I think she was really intrigued by Crow and it was almost like she might have thought Crow was a fellow deer, and then suddenly decided that no, this animal was not one of her kind. 

Communing with wildlife like that is something many of us have lost in our quest to be connected to the digital world. Take time to disconnect from that reality and open yourself to the wonder all around you and see what happens. This type of connection to all that is around us is one that is being lost. As we make time to be in nature and connect in a very different way, we become much more human and alive and vital.

Shift Your Story/Shift Your Life

This exercise is a very simple one. Make some time in your day to just take a walk, or to do nothing and to disconnect from your phone and social media world and connect to what is inside of you and what is around you. Make a commitment to do this at least for 15 minutes a day for 2 weeks and see what effects that have on your outer world and inner world. Write down what you feel and experience so you can come back to your insights at any time.

My soothing words of wisdom for the week are about living in the middle of a storm:

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