Accepting the Nature of Things

Nature invited us to move to the boonies of southern Indiana on a snowy winter day. As we drove the hilly, winding roads, a captivating mist rose over the frozen water, a deer’s marble brown eyes stared into our own, and the first bluebird we’d ever seen sang us a cheerful song. It was nature that brought us here, and it is nature that offers us daily inspiration and wisdom.

About The Nature of Things~ 

Seasons come and go, and no amount of wishing will speed them up or slow them down. As much as we longed for spring to arrive, the bare trees took an extra long time this year to fill with tiny, promising buds. Day after day, we dipped our toes in chilly lake water, anxious for it to be warm enough to jump in. Now, as we bob around on rafts in the hot summer sun, it’s difficult to imagine the lake covered in ice, or the trees without their vast green canopy. Much the same, it’s hard to fathom we’ve reached the season of having adult children and retirement plans.

Houses are built with a certain nature that should be honored. When I pictured my dream home on a lake, it was a quaint cottage much like the one Snow White stumbled upon. It took me a little while to accept that our home is a funky, contemporary design with straight lines and sharp angles. This house isn’t cute and charming. It’s bold and earthy, and I love it.

Like houses, people are built with a certain nature that should be honored. Nature reminds us that a rose doesn’t try to be a daisy, an oak tree doesn’t try to be an evergreen, and a woodpecker doesn’t try to be a hummingbird. Why do we so often try to be something we’re not? I own that I’m a friendly introvert who wears my heart on my sleeve, and I’m fully aware I do quirky and annoying things in search of peace, beauty, and simplicity. As we learn to accept and honor our own nature, we have an easier time doing the same for others.

Nature can be messy, wild, and unpredictable. When Mike sees me picking up sticks or pulling weeds on our property, he shakes his head and teases, “It’s the woods!” I’m slowly learning that trying to control mother nature is futile. As cute as forest animals are, they can present problems. Cold, heat, sun, rain, and wind can ruin our possessions and our plans. That’s just the way it is. Nature can bring magnificent beauty one minute and utter chaos the next. Isn’t that just like life?

We live closer to nature here in our house in the woods. Cohabitating with trees, water, and wildlife has convinced me that everything in life expresses a certain undeniable nature. I’m grateful to be reminded of the wisdom in accepting, appreciating, and honoring the nature of things.