Then my husband stole my entire lifes savings and operational money for the two businesses I had and ran away with his girlfriend. I lost everything, and then a friend offered to let me live in her garage down on a river in a rural part of the county with no neighbors or humans anywhere around, just nature, pure and simple.
There was no bathroom, no kitchen, no running water, and no drainage, finally, no heat. I brought down a wood burning stove for myself and a church gave me wood for the winter time and this is in the mountains. The sun rose at 10 am and set at 2 pm, which meant I was cold all the time, so I needed that heat.
I had to haul water for everything, cooking, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, etc. I also had to haul wood every single day for heat morning, noon and night, except during the summer which ran from June to early September, then I had to heat evenings before and after those dates. I had no clocks down there, nor any calendars, so I had to figure out time and dates by the suns position on the horizon for dates and it's rising for times.
Because I lived on a River, I had to climb up a ridge that had granite and gravel and dump my grey water which cleaned the water through those rocks and then once cleaned ran back into the river, which is where I got all my water from, using a filter to make sure it was drinkable. I did this for two solid years. I got strong and vibrant.
I also had a large window on one wall and put my bed there so I could hear the river at night and see the stars and galaxy arm through the window, looking up. There was NO NOISE OR LIGHT POLLUTION down there and I had no idea that life could be like that. After about a month of living there, I said to myself outloud that "my life had been a huge lie". I loved the life I was living unbeknownst to me, that it even existed. I became convinced that I was a bohemian by nature. I grew great muscles and got exceedingly strong at an advanced age.
That is also were I got spiritual like never before. I had two small dogs that lived with me down there and the ducks would chase them away from the river and I never laughed so hard in my life watching that all play out. That is when I discovered that God had a sense of humor. I saw covens of wild turkeys and many fabulous beautifully coloured migratory birds, I saw elk and deer grazing all over the place and drinking from the river. I heard only animal and bug sounds, no human made noise at all.
I saw hawks chasing mice and owls with 6 foot wing spans, monarch butterflies by the thousands, and they were so beautiful. I saw humming birds with the most beautiful colours on their breasts and when the sun shone, they would light up a brilliant colour on their necks and chest, and I watched their babies chase the adults away from the feeder I had put out.
Then 3 coyotes would come every day and visit me across the road to the garage and I had never seen such intelligent eyes on animals before. Yes, I definitely found God in that place and have been at peace ever since.... even with all that is going on now, I still can find lessons in almost everything. I also believe deeply that without our spiritual nature, we could not prevail, but that with it, I have no doubt that we will prevail.
Its why I can do this blog and not react negatively or go into fear. I had faced surviving and did it naturally, and so fear was not a word in my lexicon. I also gained a spiritual connection to God in a real way, with real meaning, not religion, but a spiritual awakening. That sustained me and made everything else mean more than it otherwise would have.
I lived this way for 2 years. If I had been a millionaire, I could not have bought what I gained from this experience. The end result was, I wrote a letter to my husband who was in jail for the thieving he had done to me, and THANKED HIM FOR WHAT HE HAD DONE. This below brought back so many memories of that time, and every single one of these below is true and I know because I experienced them all and then some.
I am a completely different person today because of that incredible two year experience. I would not trade it for the world. I forgot to tell you I also caught fish (trout) from the river..... let it season to kill the bugs in them and then cooked them over an open fire in the summer time and ate fresh fish. Oh, how delicious that was.
10 Reasons Why You Feel So Good in Nature
http://ecowatch.com/2014/11/26/feel-good-in-nature/
By | November 26, 2014
Earth, rivers, mountains and trees! Silent canyons, babbling creeks and growing green gardens! If you spend time in nature, you’ve probably noticed that you feel happier out there than in here.
But why? One of the better known theories, the “biophilia hypothesis,” suggests that we love nature because we
10. Nature teaches you that there is nothing wrong with you.
Consider:
- When you’re in nature, you don’t have to look in mirrors. Instead, you’re either focused on the setting around you, or on what you are doing, like climbing, setting up a tent, or gardening. Studies show that people’s body image improves when we spend time in nature, and I think this is part of the reason why.
- When you’re alone in nature, or with a loving friend or group of people, you get sweet relief from sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, and all the other ways we oppress, stigmatize and belittle one another.
- On the contrary, nature displays incredible diversity in all her glory. There are fat trees and skinny ones, short ones and tall ones. Within a single clump of yellow flowers, you might see a pink one and realize that it’s a mutation. In nature, we don’t say ‘How wrong! That flower is different; that tree is fat!’ Instead, we say, ‘How beautiful!’ This impacts us below the level of thought.
Urgency, deadlines and “clock time,” as measured by hours, minutes and seconds, melt away. Clocks teach us to abandon the natural rhythms of our bodies and the Earth and conform to a schedule rooted in our economic system. That creates a lot of stress.
On the flip side, nature models a healthier pace of life. Trees and plants grow s – l – o – w – l – y. Deer graze calmly. Rabbits and squirrels scamper about, but that is their natural pace. Everyone is moving according to their natural rhythm, and you begin to do the same.
8. Nature models “just enough” sustainability.
Our culture teaches us that we never have enough. We strive to make more money, buy more things, eat more delicious food. Mainstream culture also encourages us not to think about how this over-consumption affects others, such as the sweatshop laborers who make our clothes, or the people and animals who depend on a climate in balance.
In contrast, eco systems embody harmony and balance. Trees grow to a height that reflects the nutrients and water immediately available. Squirrels store the right amount of food to get them through the winter. (Imagine how absurd it would be if squirrels expected their collection of nuts to grow exponentially without any effort on their part—as we do with our investments!) Quietly witnessing this balance and harmony is like salve in the wound of overconsumption.
7. You surrender comfort and control.
Our culture propagates the harmful myth that we should strive to be as comfortable as possible, to make life as pleasurable possible, and to resist hardship as much as possible. No myth has made us unhappier as a people. We simply can’t be pleasured or comfortable all the time. We can’t control everything. Trying to achieve permanent comfort and control leads to a dull, meaningless life that kills the soul.
Nature calls you back to reality. You can’t stop it from raining. You can’t delay the setting sun. You can’t set the temperature to a comfortable 70 degrees. If you’re climbing a mountain, your muscles are going to burn. But with this surrender comes such relief! You awake from a dream and realize how little control you really have. You remember that hardship and lack of control are part of life, and accepting this reality makes it not only bearable, but possible to feel the joy of being alive. (VN: One thing I forgot to mention about my learning experience was that, I LEARNED that our bodies were made to live the way I was living. I was shocked to discover that. My body had never felt so well, right, good, and open as it did doing all that I had to do to survive. It was like I was incomplete before this experience and at the end of it I felt complete.)
6. Nature reminds you of death so you can appreciate your life and its natural cycles.
In the U.S., we do everything we can to avoid the knowledge that we, and everyone we love, are going to die. In nature, you encounter dead trees all the time. And, behold!—they’re nursing young plants to life. You walk through a burn area and see a profusion of wildflowers thriving in the newly enriched soil. You might even see animal skulls and bones. When we come face to face with death, we value our own life more, the present moment more, and experience surges of joy to be alive. Many cancer survivors know this truth well from a harsh encounter with death. Nature eases us into this reality.
5. As the noise of our crazy culture fades, your mind calms and you experience silence and stillness. What a relief! Enough said.
4. You behold the beauty of nature.
How is such majesty possible? The strength of that mountain, standing there for all those years! The miracle of this single flower, infused with sunlight. The revelation of a tree, rooted deep in the earth, stretching to the sky, and bearing silent witness to the world around it! You feel awe and joy and are whole again.
3. You remember that you are connected to all living things.
You feel that you belong to this Earth. That you are part of the community of nature. You are made of the same substance, and that you are no better—and no worse—than that bird, that tree, that other human walking up the trail.
2. You remember who you truly are.
You feel comfortable in your own skin, you experience your own quiet peace and strength, you sense the inner you that is the true you. The mask you present to the outer world is irrelevant for a time, and put in its proper place.
1. You experience the Divine.
Whether you call it God, Earth Mother, the Great Mystery or by another name, nature helps you to connect with this powerful, loving presence. You might feel this presence loving and supporting you. You might receive guidance and wisdom. Nature brings you closer to our own spirit and to Spirit.
These are the reasons why I believe we are so happy in the natural world. This is why nature heals, and helps us to live lives of meaning and joy.
Kris Abrams is a nature-based psychotherapist and shamanic practitioner with Cedar Tree Healing Arts.
The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
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