A Day Surrounded By Nature

Today we spent the day at Cox Arboretum surrounded all of the beautiful nature. On the scavenger hunt, I got the chance to go with a group to take in all of the wonderful exhibits or activities in the park. Some of my favorite activities would have to be going into the editable garden and looking at all of the different items there were. Together, my group decided to collect one this and bring it to the big table and do different taste tests. As I was laughing with my friends I started to realize how amazing it was that we could just hang out in nature and talk to each other. We told different stories that the plants reminded us of and we built even more memories.

The scavenger hunt continued as we made our way to the tree tower. This was a very tall post basically that we climbed up. As I got up to the top I looked out over the edge and saw all the different shades of green mixing and swirling together. It made me realize how much I take for granted. The reason I thought this because I had never really taken the time to stop and take in what the world around me looked like. I spent the next few minutes up there taking in the sound of peacefulness were the only sounds I heard where the sounds of life around me.

One of my favorite parts of the day was doing the five-minute writing meditation. During this, I sat under this beautiful breezeway and wrote about the beautiful view of this long line of trees with magenta flowers next to them. The reason this was so enjoyable for me was that it was a chance to express how I was feeling and it helped me get all of my thoughts out on paper. As I sat and wrote about the view I noticed how different my mood was and how I had not had the feeling of openness in a long time. The view and the color of all the flowers I was surruonded me helped me to realize again just how beautiful life is.

Looking back on the day I can now see how much I take for granted in everyday life. The day at Cox Arboretum made me realize how easy it can be to live in the moment and just soak everything up instead of living the same life over and over again. I think that if I spent more time in nature or at an arboretum on a weekly basis it would help me to live deliberately because I would be focused on the life around me and not just my own needs. When I’m surrounded by nature I am suddenly filled with long-lasting happiness and I’m beyond grateful that I have now learned how I can help myself live even more deliberately.