Heart Choice Essentials

I arrived at the creek today with a grey sky hanging overhead.  There were spits of rain but they didn’t seem to be mounting to much.  So I decided to risk it – stay outdoors for a while and do some nature journaling!  

I found somewhere to perch and got my sketchpad out to balance on my knee, with pencil at the ready too. 

I nestled in and looked around me…leaves beside me looking a little damp, textured creek rocks nearby in all sorts of earthy hues. And the flowing water of the creek in front of me. 

All of it so good for the senses. I spent a few minutes breathing it all in.

The creek was flowing fast in its’ centre.  It became quite tumultuous as it cascaded over a log, then settled again to gently glide along its pebbly bed.

Checking in with myself, I realised that the collision of water and log that was happening right in front of me was indeed my connection point with Nature today. For I was not long off a phone call from a relative, and my heart space still felt a little churned-up due to differing priorities for our loved one’s disability funding. A heated conversation in parts…unexpected froth and fury in my morning…. just like this tumultuous point in the creek where the water met an obstacle.

Taking my eyes from the log I gazed upstream and downstream again. The creek was peaceful further along in both directions. Clearly the log was a dynamic tumbling point, but it did not disturb the creek for long.

I breathed the cool air and felt gratitude for the lack of rain so far. 

So, taking my pencil in hand, the sketching began. A simple log shape was first to emerge on the blank page in front of me. Then I found myself writing some words into that log space – scribing a couple of phrases still ringing in my ear from the phone call. Having got them out and onto the paper, I could let go of them. Hooray, my emotions could flow again and find their calm.  Continuing on, my pencil flitted across the page adding more ‘nature’ around the word-filled log – water and rocks and leafy plants, nothing grand but enough squiggles and shading to suggest they were there. 

Fast forward a half hour and you’d find the blank page now full of something that looked a bit like the “nature” where I sat, my perspective now refreshed, my calm now restored, and my heart now full of “happy”.  Being in Nature is always so beneficial! Today’s evidence? I had just journaled myself back into some Joy! 

Cherie Rowett is facilitating a Nature Journalling event for informal caregivers during the upcoming Nature Festival. Jump online and book in for “Carers at the Creek” on Friday 7th October, 1pm to 3pm, it’s right near Mitcham Memorial Library. If you aren’t involved in caregiving currently, perhaps you know someone who is and could pass this onto them?

/https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/carers-at-the-creek-tickets-407855385437?aff=ebdssbdestsearch