Nature is both beautiful and healing...🌲🌸🦋

[Ggrand]

Hello Everyone....

I love nature and I find it very helpful in helping me in healing way..when I’m not in a good head space...I was wondering if others feel the same and am hoping that you might share your piece of nature, whether it’s a small patch of grass in your back yard..somewhere that you drive to, to just relax, somewhere close to you that you walk amongst...and if you have really taken the time to listen, watch, feel, smell, the wonders all around us..

I love nature..the trees, flowers, creatures both big and small, it’s my solitude place, a place I go to when things are getting to hard for me..

I am lucky, I have this huge gumtree which I found out about recently...
It was planted around 70 years ago by a local here when she was a little girl, and living in the house I’m now living in...About 5 years after she planted it, a strong wind with rain blew it down....A few of the locals saw her trying to stand it up to replant it...and they came to help her...and successfully managed to replant it....Today it’s easily over 60feet tall and just as wide, the trunk of the tree would need 4 people to hug it by joining hands..
The tree stands in front of my place and in front of the paddocks across from me..which the owner has some Angus cows, which love to lay under the tree....Birds are everywhere here, and a few use the tree as their home..

I sit outside for hours sometimes, watching the birds come and go for food and water I have supplied for them in bird feeders and bird baths....It’s a beautiful and peaceful way to relax watching and feeling what Mother Nature has provided for us...
For me it’s both calming and healing...

Do you have a piece of nature around you...and how does it make you feel when you take the time to just look and take in the wonder of it all....

We would love to hear about how nature helps you...and do you find that it can be healing for your soul...

Kind and caring thoughts everyone..

Grandy..

[Ggrand]

Hey Dear Ecomama,.

Your place sounds beautiful....To live in a treehouse would be so much fun...I imagined you climbing up the tree on a ladder..entering your home by the little trap door built into the floor....shutter windows..candles for light..nature for music..and an abundance of crops growing near by....Lol kinda like Tarzan...how cool would that be...

I lived in the city all my life up until 10 years ago....When H finally got what he thought he always wanted..a home on acreage..he still wasn’t happy....but I was, I fell in love with our daily visitors of kangaroos, owls, lizards, rabbits, and bird life...but I couldn’t enjoy it because H didn’t...

I sold the acres after H died and things went wrong with my little shop....and moved into a tiny village..my home is opposite grazing land..and a huge Eucalyptus Gum Tree...Which I often cross the narrow road to hug...yep I’m a tree hugger and it does feel good...I have no one else here to hug..so why not a tree....(only God can make a tree)...I love trees, they are uniquely different from each other..just like everyone and everything else..I am happy to hear the tree wasn’t taken down...

Your Brush Turkeys sounds like a lot of fun to watch and have giggle...Kookaburras are beautiful..I have a young kookaburra that visits me often...Magpies that trust me with their babies...Oh the king parrots ..I can hand feed...they are so cute...Aren’t the cockies funny the way they hang upside down and swing themselves back and forward....

I feel lucky that I have nature around me..and am able to sit outside when things get to overwhelming for me....then I let nature help heal my soul....Nothing else can heal our spirit or soul except nature itself....That’s what it’s their for...for us to look, listen, feel, smell and taste her wonders and beauty..

My kind thoughts, lovely ecomama....with a hug 🤗.

Grandy..

[ecomama]

Dearest Grandy, BIG hugs to you too!

I feel exactly the same way about nature. When you observe nature, it is healing.
Breathtakingly beautiful.

We have this huge bird I thought it was swooping each night as I sit on my balcony typing away on BB lol... I hear its wings flapping and I think it must be catching its dinner!

But then my eldest daughter was here a few nights ago and she thought it was a big bat.
Then my son thought so tonight too...

Tonight we saw TWO of them. But it's so dark, we can't quite make out what type of flying creature it is... or they are lol.
Nonetheless I'm so happy they are finding a home here.

A real life treehouse would be a dream house for me!
Just like Jane in Tarzan or just like Tarzan even lol!
Leaving out the swinging by vines though.

Before we got our rescue dog, I fed fruit every night to possums on our balcony. Sometimes they would grab fruit from my hand. So many times I would get excited seeing a swollen belly and once a little baby poked out from his mamas pouch and grabbed some fruit too! lol. TOO CUTE FOR WORDS.
Then I see the mama possums carrying their very big babies, almost as big as their mamas, on their backs.

We have lots of soft fruit trees, and lilly pillies with berries, so the wildlife love to eat from my garden. I'm grateful they have that since so much habitat has been removed.

I'm surprised to hear you lived in the city until quite recently Grandy! IDK why I thought you were a country girl through and through, maybe because you have such a deep appreciation for nature.

I also hug my trees and pat them and thank them too. Someone wrote they hugged a tree on the self-care thread lol... how beautiful is that!

And why not too, loving nature is self-care, it feels that way.

Love always EM

[Jojo100]

Dear Grandy

There are a couple of things I do to get in touch with nature which I find really healing and calming.

The first one is to head for the beach with my little dog. I just love the sounds and smell of the sea breeze and collecting tiny rocks and shells. Getting sand between your toes is so therapeutic. I laugh at the antics of my dog playing in the shallows and thoroughly enjoying her new found freedom. I also love the sun kissed smell afterwards on my skin.

The second one is to go fishing with a local community group. It is so relaxing down by the estuary, river or jetty. I always release the fish, but I really love seeing the fish close up with their amazing colours and shimmering scales. Many are so beautiful.

Anyway I always am uplifted after doing both these activities. Life feels good!

Thanks for the thread Grandy I have really enjoyed reading all the different stories.

With love Jojo 🐠🎣🦀 🐚 🐶

[Guest_1643]

i love nature and space - i'm finally starting to enjoy the area i live which is rather urban - but from my street there is a beautiful view over the city- it makes my heart sing. when the sun is setting accross the buildings - i can really see the curved horizon from my wide street.
I also love to sit outside on the stoop of my apartment and watch the street - and feel the wind on my skin
I drink a tea and take it in

I used to think the neighbours would think i'm weird but they've actually starting copying me
"Saw you sitting there yesterday, thought it was a good idea..." said my neighbour today, downing a glass on wine while sitting in my lovely sunny spot

[geoff]

Hello Grandy, definitely a lovely thread and yes, it certainly does.

I could sit and watch a waterfall that cascades its way by making a deep plunge and wonder where and how it all began, and the volume of water and where it's going to end up, just beautiful.

During my marriage, I built a large deck in front of the house, but still adjoined, where it overlooked the towns, mountains and watch the weather change within a few minutes it was priceless, I certainly miss it now.

My best.

Geoff.

[ecomama]

Lolol Sleepy21, I hope the ppl bring more to your peace sitting on the stoop with a cuppa lol.

Our view is so important.

Decades ago I was posted interstate and had to find a rental very quickly, like in 1 day lol!

The little ancient home I rented faced a 4 lane, fast street leading into the city.
The back step faced a car yard and the back fence backed up to a warehouse.
The only nature was in my garden... once I could "see" it.

I didn't know anyone there.

In the afternoons and on weekends, I would lay on my couch and when I put my head down low enough I could see JUST the tops of some trees. They were palms of all things in a very cold climate, a long way from the beaches of home.
THAT was perfect.

I would see that and close my eyes, imagine the sounds of waves crashing on the beach, imagine the waves lapping on the side of my grandparent's boat, remember the the deep water over the side of the boat. I could block out the sounds of traffic this way and my imaginary nature soothed me.

EMxxxx

[Guest_1643]

hi Em - thank you for that b eautiful testament to the healing power of nature

even the tops of the trees hey?

a few years ago i went on a holiday with a friend to byron

It was a disastrous holiday lol everything went wrong including bumping into an abusive ex boyfriend there (what?! in byron bay) and our accomdatin being weird and not comfortable.

But i did like this little private beach we had beside our apartment - and my fave was the moment where you walked on the street on the dirt path, pushed back a large tree - and hidden behind the tree - once you pushed it aaway - was this beautiful peaceful beach. I loved that. I like how nature can appear and bring brightness unsuspecting.

Like those beautiful tree tops you could find view of.

[Ggrand]

Hello ecomma, Geoff, Sleepy, Jojo and everyone..

Just reading your beautiful stories are calming...

Sleepy yes that is a great feeling when we first smell, hear and see the beach..it has an automatic calming effect...

JoJo..I went fishing a few times and caught a flathead..I also released it..once on a boat we hired I caught one of those Puffer fish..it scared me and I threw the line and all in.... f.i.l. wasn’t happy with me because he had to get the rod out of the water..😂..That was the last time I went fishing..but I used to sit and watch others on the beach fishing, dodging the beautiful sea gulls..

ecomma....When I was a young child...and living in the metropolitan area of Sydney....and things weren’t going very well..I used to hide behind our bbq, lay down and watch the clouds, floating along the sky..I like the way they change shape..sometimes from a cloud that looks like a dragon into anything my imagination saw...I used to imagine I was riding the clouds and they took me to different peaceful worlds...I still do it today when I lay on my couch on the veranda..I’ve even gone to sleep with my imagination and clouds...They really are so peaceful and beautiful to me..very similar to you and the palm trees..my imagination is my saviour at times..

Geoff...I have never been up close to a large waterfall..but I can imagine the beauty of the water falling over the edge..especially when the sun is out..the water would sparkle when it fell...Where I live I can see a mountain range...sometimes when I am lucky I can see the rain falling there..then not long after if it’s raining heavy I can hear it as it comes my way... it really is awesome to see..and makes me feel so much a part of the magic, that nature offers us...

Thank you all for sharing how nature effects you...It brings a calmness to my mind and body just by reading your beautiful stories..

My kindness and care everyone..

Grandy..🕊🦋🌹🌱🐛🐜🕷

[Elizabeth CP]

Grandy I felt really sad that you have never been close to a large waterfall. I hope you can go to one soon. There is something special about them. The mist on your face, the roar of the water rushing over the rocks and the sheer beauty of the falls as well as the vegetation around. Being close to fresh water means there is usually very lush vegetation nearby.

A couple of weeks ago I was feeling stressed and upset so I drove to a park nearby . I then walked down to the lake & found a concrete path jutting into the lake with big rocks at the end. I walked to the end & sat on the rocks & tried something I'd heard of but I'd never done before to calm myself. I looked around for 5 things and really concentrated on them looking at the details. Looking into the clear water & then noticing the ripples reflecting light, I saw lovely clouds in the sky & the rock I was sitting on had lovely patterns from the grains in it. I then felt 4 things. The concrete had a very different texture to the natural rock. I bent down & felt the cool water & then the wet rocks below the waterline. I then listened carefully and could hear a few different birds, frogs & the rippling water & then a splash as a duck landed in the lake. I took my mask off & smelt the lovely fresh air. By the time I was half way through I felt so much calmer but really enjoyed going through the rest of the process. I'm not sure if I did it properly but who cares it worked for me!!! Really heped me forget about my problems and enjoy nature noticing things you normally glance past

[Jojo100]

Dear Grandy

Sorry but your encounter with the puffer fish and how you reacted made me smile. Though it is perfectly understandable as they are quite scary. I recently caught one and it swallowed the bait and hook as well so we had to cut the line to let it go! 🐡

Maybe some day you will have another go as it is just so relaxing being near water. There are plenty of ‘nice’ fish to catch!

love Jojo