Is today a good time for a walk where you live? If not, how about taking a virtual walk with me?
Wild, sometimes, the memories that surface.
You step out the door
and before you know it . . .
you’re a hatless kid again, let loose in the meadow, stalking ladybugs, moths and monarchs. In spongy-new tennies, you inch past milkweeds and burdock, dandelions and Queen Anne’s lace.
If you relished this mid-century childhood freedom like I did, half the fun was being outside on your own, green grapes in a pocket, traveling with or without a net for butterflies (made with a coat hanger and cheesecloth). Remember? Let’s go!
Exploring. Staring at clouds.
Sitting on our haunches to flip over a bug with a stick.
Whistling on grass blades, inhaling May.
Walking without a net today, I take these pictures along the path and wonder (maybe you do, too):
Why do I always prefer a safety net?
I don’t like living without a net to catch me. Before I can plumb this fear, I see the wild shooting stars: tall and delicate with wind tunnel petals. Their centers are dark, beaky snouts.
Their name alone reminds me to watch for surprises.
“If you search for the little bursts of surprise in your life,” writes Margaret Moore, “you create an entire mind-set change—exactly what the adventurer needs.”*
I’m not very adventurous. But I’d like to be.
Streamline this soul today
like a badminton birdie,
ready to rise . . .
“Finding novel sensations in the everyday hits a mental reset button,” says Todd Kashdan, PhD.**
And you—what of your rushed
and useful life? Imagine setting it all down—
papers, plans, appointments, everything—
leaving only a note: “gone
to the fields to be lovely. Be back
when I’m through with blooming.”
—Lynn Ungar, “Camas Lilies”
This is my year to delight more in life—without a net of some kind to reassure me I’ll be okay. Sometimes I question my motives. I take heart from the following quote:
“An adventurous person will always have moments of feeling like a fraud—it’s a sign that you’re creating new roles for yourself, that you’re evolving. It means you’re doing great, passionate work (Kashdan).”
So today, if we feel more like a wheel done rolling . . .
Larkspur, you remind us to keep seeking
the company of those who are still blooming,
as if knowing some days we feel
irrelevant, relegated to rust.
Or is it field art?
TAKING IT FURTHER:
Amble somewhere this week. Make this outing non-aerobic. Non-wired. A slow roam without a net, soul mesh open to receive surprise. What along the speaks to you? How might this change the way you live?
*Margaret Moore, MacLean/Harvard Institute of Coaching, as quoted in O, June 2010, p. 141.
**Todd Kashdan, PhD, author of Curious?
“Camas Lilies,” Lynn Ungar, Bread and Other Miracles
I sure do remember those days of childhood – delighting in everything. Thank you for taking me there again. What a refreshment for my soul!
Oh, I’m so glad to have opened a door for you to revisit. Thanks for telling me! Such a blessing to be a kid back then.
Years ago, in 2002, I started a wild flower log, organized under genus and species. I loved the hunt- and the discovery- and the recording of genus species and location of discovery. The field guides were always in my backpack. My records became a diary of our travels. Now I salute old friends. Sometimes the field guides are left behind. Sometimes the genus species name slips my memory. I even wear my glasses on a cord around my neck so I can more clearly inspect the path side flowers, but the delight remains- perhaps intensified by the memory of its first discovery.
Next time I visit, I hope you’ll show me! What a marvelous undertaking. Every few years I find a new specimen out in the back forty—always a special delight. I’ve not dug into the Latin though, and there are still a few wildflowers in the back that I haven’t identified. I am filled with admiration for your delight in the hunt and accumulated knowledge. And yes, I can see how the idea of greeting the familiar and recalling the first sighting would be rich, indeed.
I sure enjoyed seeing you both when you were here! So glad there was time in your schedule. 🙂
I Always enjoy following you down the trail . The one that seems to transcend time , one minute I’m sitting in my office and the next I’m following you as you March me back to the woods and pond I grew up roaming as a grade school child…
I look forward to these pleasant trips and thank you Laurie for pushing the play button …Larkspur you do remind us …
Larry, I’m so glad you had some timeless moments today. . . right there in the office. We were lucky to grow up in safer times when we could roam till we were called home to dinner! I wish my grandkids had the same freedom. Thank you so much for leaving your comments today, means the world to me.
Oh, my friend, I love the way you see the world! The Lynn Ungar lines really resonate. Thank you for the food for thought and the remarkable, thought-provoking photos.
Jody, thank you! Your words means so much to me today, well, actually any day I read or hear them, but today especially I needed these. Praying for your wellness today, friend.