Nature's Medicine

Whittier, Alaska

A steady rain came in so we decided to take shelter and think for a while .. We’ve been out & about this summer but this feels like our first return back to nature since winter’s breakup.

This past winter too much of my time was spent indoors, in buildings, in houses, gyms, universities, offices. All that I felt gained was a clouded mind and overwhelming anxiety. The time was all well spent but it seems to have just flown past me. Almost as if time unraveled quicker than before. Perhaps my time spent indoors, in buildings, made me lose the ability to live in the moment. The demand to constantly prepare for the next step, the next business meeting, the next university exam, the next paycheck, the next thought alone has hindered my ability to live in the now.

Today we experienced this summer’s first brown bear, retreating glaciers, an avalanche, and rugged mountain ridgelines. We were on an attempt to climb some rock faces just below Byron Glacier but sadly, conditions did not persist. We turned and headed back to the main trail, where we then watched the ridgeline above release a natural avalanche just shy of where our intentions to climb were. Speechless, we just observed, reflected, and learned. It’s roar throughout the valley reminded us of where we were. Here- and yet very thankful to be here, and not there. Being in nature has a way of reminding you of where you are and where you stand in this whole exisistance thing.

We have returned to nature, on an unmaintained dirt road in the Alaskan temperate rainforest, listening to the light steady rain bounce off the truck topper. We now realize time is passing just as fast for the trees as it is for us. Nothing really changed, we were just not here, in the now.

Welcome back to nature. Welcome back to now.

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