I’m currently sitting with my toes in the grass dreaming of high places. (No, this isn’t a fever dream left over from 4/20. 😉 But before we go further, perhaps I should back up just a little bit.
This morning I met a friend and we did a little “hiking.” We had a lovely time criss crossing a local park that actually has something other than a concrete trail (a rarity in the suburb I live in). We meandered our way around trees, a couple of creeks, ignored a couple of inconveniently placed closed signs and even climbed a mound or two. Yep, you read that right, I said mound. You see, for the most part here in North Texas we don’t have mountains, or even really hills – we have mounds, and speed bumps. This unfortunate reality makes it difficult to live here for someone like me that craves the mountains. Hiking is my happy place and all I can do where I live is “hike.”
So, that leaves me sitting in the backyard with my toes in the grass dreaming of high places. I can sit and do this for hours given the chance. All I need is a beverage, some good tunes and a little solitary time, even better if that time’s experienced out of doors. I’ve learned that I, surprisingly, don’t need quiet to sail away into the outer reaches of my mind. Currently my dog is barking at the guys mowing the neighbor’s lawn, the husband is behind me cleaning the grill and my nose is a little chilly, but here I sit, completely consumed with my inner thoughts.
If you had told me even 10 years ago that I would be able to do this, I would have laughed in your face. I always struggled to focus, but in my later years I’ve found that when I care about what I’m focusing on, I can manage to shut out the distractions and find peace in the midst of the chaos around me. It’s almost as if I’ve bottled up the zen I find in the mountains and drenched my soul with it. It’s become a part of me – a part I like very much. Even as I was physically traversing the little trails today, internally, I was recounting past trails, and beginning to form the genesis of ideas for trails I will tackle this summer when I head north, and up, again. It all makes me incredibly happy.
It’s been a rough 18 months for all of us, but we don’t have to allow ourselves to be consumed with the negativity swirling around us. We can choose to take a step away from the chaos once in a while. It’s not always easy, but it’s important to find a way to have a little bit of happy in your life – even if it’s just sitting in your own backyard with your bare toes in the grass dreaming of high places. Try it, I promise you you’ll feel better.
Shannon R. Brown 