Whenever people are depressed, anxious, or feeling an intense negative emotion, I always tell them, “Go, walk into nature.” Mother nature, with her abundant green leaves above our heads, and green grass beneath our feet, brings us all serenity. Walking in the woods is my form of therapy, it's my get away from human civilization. When one feels home sick, it isn't your best interest to be in your constructed house. I believe that being in the comforting arms of nature, our true home, is the answer to all our problems. Because once we step into the bigger picture, and leave our problems behind in the complicated society we've built, we recognize how silly it is to stress.

Taking that first step into the woods always brings a wave of peace to my soul. I feel alive as I breathe in the fresh air, as the gentle breeze welcomes me. Mother nature guides me down a long, narrow path. Step after step, the deeper I go into the woods, the deeper I go into myself. I feel within my body, my mind, and in control of my thoughts. The flowers are all the more beautiful, pink and purple petals galore. Patches of dead leaves seem more magical laying on the ground then when they cover sidewalks. Life is all the more real and living.

To me, spending time alone, writing down my thoughts in artistic expressions, reading interesting books, or sipping on a nice cup of warm, sweet tea, are ideas of an afternoon well spent. Solitude is hard to come by in the world we live in. That's why running away, deep into the woods, was always a life changing experience for me. I can give my mind a chance to breathe, without others presence in the way. Alone time heals me, and when I'm alone in nature, I feel anything but lonely. The chirps of birds communicating, accompanied by the soft waves of the lake bumping into each other, comforts me.

I love to just sit and observe nature. Meditative states are natural when one finds themselves where we belong. The breeze flutters the leaves, making music, and making the air pleasant to breathe in deeply. Sitting on the soft, packed dirt feels anything but dirty. Animals are in a relaxed, natural state. The trees stand firm, but look anything but too serious. Nature teaches me lessons just by the way it performs. As Loa Tzu said, “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

Sometimes, I like to pretend I live in nature while I'm visiting. I wonder what it'd be like to always have a home in different features of the land, such as caves. I visualize days spent walking for hours on end to gather food and resources needed. Imagine traveling as part of your natural lifestyle, never settling too long in one area. I am grateful for my human civilization for all it's conveniences when I think of all the hardships living in nature would bring. When I think about living in nature, I realize just how important toilet paper becomes! By being in nature, a positive sense of gratitude for my life outside of nature arises, a lifestyle that I often take for granted. Sure, human civilization may be a little incomplete in some areas, but to think we have built our own nature baffles me. We have yet to make a nature that's quite as perfect as our woods, beaches, and other lands, though. And this is why I visit my roots every so often.

I could sit in nature for hours without getting bored, but eventually, when the human world calls for me, I must return. As I walk out of nature, I thank it for all the calmness and wisdom it has brought me. I thank myself for my own two feet, for being able to come to the woods in solitude. The leaves wave goodbye. I remind myself to use the trees on streets as a reminder of my true, blissful home. I promise not get too caught up in the seriousness everyone else seems to be tying themselves into in our human society. I promise myself days of smiling, laughing, and playing like a child.

Then, when the promises seem to hard to keep, back into nature I go.