There is Only Existing: Reflections on Nature

I can relax and regulate in nature like nowhere else.

There’s no pressures. No expectation to be a certain way.

There is only existing in the landscape of weather, plants, and other than human beings.

There is no need for masking

Whether a part of my trauma responses, or a part of my neurodivergent experience, masking is a below conscious part of my everyday experience in so many settings of life - even at home.

There’s a level of background work my system is always doing - scanning how I may be perceived, how I’m holding myself, what I’m doing and saying, whether I’m connecting or not… that simply falls away outside.

I notice a slowing in my breath, an expanding of my contracted chest and shoulders, and a release of tension I did not even know my body was holding - like a breath held in anticipation of something unknown.

As this falls away, I experience a sharpening of my senses - clearer vision, more observant to subtle sounds, and a reconnecting with my rest, digest state and my play, create state.

Nature helps me move from do, do, do, to let’s be and see what unfolds here in this moment.

Nature helps me to unlock my creative self - freeing it from the weight of everyday and shifting my body into a state in which creative expression is once again a natural extension of and expression of me.

Outside, in the elements, the firm ground provides support, the breeze gently caresses my arms and face, the sun provides energy and warmth, while the trees and other plants offer shade and soothing green tones.

This is where I come home to self.

This is where I feel peace.

This is where I express my truth.

This is where I am witnessed without judgement.

This is where I am every bit me.