Mother forest

What makes you feel at home, safe, and grounded? What places, times, and conditions do it for you?

I’ve felt unsafe a few times in my life, but it almost never happened in the forest. Even if it was far away from the beaten path, or getting dark, or otherwise far from the familiar and the comfortable.

One time, I stayed in the woods until late to see the fireflies rising from the undergrowth and doing their magical dance. Like hundreds of eyes watching you through the trees. On my way back, I casually met a guy who was jogging in the dark, completely naked. We crossed paths and said hello as there was nothing to it. The playful eyes of the forest were watching.

Deep in the woods, I feel at ease and my senses are sharp and awake. There’s focus without effort.

The forest accepts me as I am. It doesn’t judge, it doesn’t look down, and it doesn’t idealize me. It offers itself to me without conditions or limitations. It offers its vibrant, infinite life.

How many of us could come even close to that in what we have to offer?

When I’m feeling down, the forest is there to remind me that, despite the turmoil in my head, out there the birds still sing, the springs still flow, and the wind still blows softly through the trees. Out there, my problems are nowhere to be found. Out there, the sun shines equally on the miserable and the blissful.

The forest is there to remind me that life will eventually come to you if you only let it.

It puts things into perspective.

This is my home. This is where I find my bliss.

“Follow your bliss” is this week’s topic for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, hosted by Lindy Le Coq.