Summer in Seattle, when it finally gets around to happening, is glorious. The days are long, the clouds have lifted (for the most part), and it’s difficult to stay indoors. I wake up with the sun shining through my window, to the sound of birds. In Seattle in the summer, the sky is a beautiful shade of blue. The lawns turn brown, but the evergreens glow in the summer sunlight.Â
All this is to say that right now, it’s difficult for me to think deep thoughts. Where did my brain go? It went outside. Like a big outbreath, my attention turns to the natural world, and this is as it should be, I think.
Our natural habitat isn’t this climate-controlled, carpeted world we live in. It’s the dirt and trees and sky. Being outside, especially on a warm summer day, can feel like a soothing balm. Attuning to the natural world, I feel a reassurance and resonance that I haven’t been able to find any other way.
I encourage you to go outside. Even if it’s just your backyard or local park, spend some time outside. Just sit there, if you can, or take a walk, and do this without a lot of conversation. Leave your iPod and cell phone at home. Look up at the sky. Let your body and mind align to the natural world, to your natural habitat. The time to turn inward will return, just as surely as the inbreath follows the outbreath.