If you are also caught up in the whirlwind of post-elections anxiety, thinking of 'next steps', or finding your place in the world, then you are just like me.
Cloudy morning in Tambobong Beach, Pangasinan, Philippines.
Today's morning walk was a great reminder of how nature, without effort, tells us to find or make pockets of stillness in the middle of the chaos of social issues, political upheaval, and small-scale events that fill our days.
Pockets of stillness may come from the simple act of breathing, spending time in nature, walking, and not thinking.
These days, it's too easy to get distracted and disappointed because of what we hear and see around us. Incessant thinking disrupts our days. We either look to the past and remember painful experiences or worry about the future that is not here yet.
Nature gives us a moment to truly be grateful for being alive, and to become aware of our smallness against everything else.
To quote Michael Singer, author of "Untethered Soul",
"Though you can only see a few thousand stars, there are hundreds of billions of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy alone. In fact, it is estimated that there are over a trillion stars in the Spiral Galaxy. And that galaxy would look like one star to us, if we could even see it. You're just standing on one little ball of dirt and spinning around one of the stars."
This is what we are. Our roles and lives in this galaxy are short-lived, and when we are gone, the world will go on. That's natural, unchangeable, and true for all time.
The sea follows its own rhythm. Flowers bloom and fall off their branches. Trees stay in the same place - strong and steadfast against the elements.
Nature gives us lessons freely, and they all become clear to us when we are still enough to look and listen.