Sea, forest, memories

Where and what makes you feel calm, peaceful?

It is an early Saturday morning, a cup of tea on my left, a YouTube program on the iPhone, Bhakti closely - yes is time to write a few words. If you are like me, working full time, having to wake up at 6 every morning you know that habits die hard and even on Saturday, Sunday, days off you tend to wake up at the same time. Why? Because the body gets used to habits like this and once the habit is formed we find it hard to break. This is the case in the majority of situations - good habits, bad habits, so and so ones as well.

Talking about sleep, I found an interesting documentary on Youtube explaining that prolonged loss of sleep or insufficient sleep leads to … weight gain. Yes yes, weight gain. Fascinating as I have noticed a significant weight gain in myself since sleep became a bit of a challenge. But I digress. Just in case you would like to watch it, here is the link.

Moving on and coming back to my theme. From time to time, I take a day off, a mini break as big holidays are impossible for me at the moment. So I don’t have one week holidays but one day holiday from time to time and do everything I can to make those days special. This was the case yesterday when I met with a treasured friend and explored a leafy, foresty area in East Sussex.

I grew up in the capital of an Eastern European country and most of my life I lived there. The capital of any country is a busy, dynamic place where people and buildings are fighting for space. Strangely enough I never felt crushed by the buildings. Was this because that environment was everything I knew or could it be that the reason was better planning, leafy areas complementing the build in ones, spaces planned in a more eco friendly way (yes I am using the modern jargon but talking about spaces planned 80 years ago).

Have a look at the link below and learn about the unknown Bucharest, areas I used to treasure and it looks like even nowadays, are still untouched Streets in Bucharest

What I am saying is that I never felt the longing for anything. The sea was about 3-4 hours away by train, the mountains about 1.5 - 2 hours away and it was normal for families, groups of friends to head for the mountains at the weekends or choose another destination from the myriad of recreational areas around or within the town. On top of it all, up until the early ‘90s prices were not a problem and trips were affordable. Looking back, I realise that there was a sort of balance. Weekends were for rest and recovery and finding places in nature where one was able to reconnect with nature was not hard. At the time we were not talking about wellbeing but somehow life was harmonious in a natural, unforced way.

Moving on quite a few years and my scenery has changed dramatically. For somebody who has never had a strong connection with the sea living by it for 12 years was not easy. Everything is good in moderation. I believe in this concept. The sea in small bites is a blessing and one can rest ones eyes on its stillness in those calm days, or on the mad wave dancing, seriously angry, turbulent ones and feel rejuvenated, empowered, calm.

Somehow it is not the same when one lives in the same area for many years. The magic is gone and the feelings are different. More in depth reflections in a different blog entry. It is a personal perspective of course.

Coming back to yesterday, and my walk in the woods. This was a blessed day, when I was reminded that the forest is the place where I feel alive, connected with nature, in constant state of wonder and gratitude. All our senses are involved in a forest environment - tasting gorgeously sweet berries, touching the trees, smelling the earth and flowers, listening to the birds chirping around welcoming us in their kingdom and hoping we will not harm it all with our insensitive ways.

To be continued