How I thread the Needle of my Life.

Life is a whirlwind, isn't it? From the time the alarm goes off in the morning until my head hits the pillow in the evening, its seems my body and my brain are in non stop movement . Even at the end of the long day, as I lay in bed , the clutter of the day, yesterday and tomorrow starts to invade my thoughts and it becomes nearly impossible at times to ease my mind into sleep, or at lease try and get enough sleep to be coherent in the morning.

One day I finally realized, something has to give here, I cannot keep living my life with my mind running at 100 mph all day long. So unexpectedly, I have evolved into a routine to declutter my bogged down mind and to ease my weary soul.

This routine that had evolved has actually become a daily ritual now. It all began during the early morning hours of last year during the fall as a full moon was slowly descending into the skyline to enable the sun to make it's arrival. I was sitting at my kitchen table with a candle lit as I sipped my morning coffee as I did every day, to try and wake up and have the caffeine fuel any ounce of my brain that was needing it. Except on this particular morning, I noticed how bright the full moon still shone in through my window blinds for 6 am. Intrigued on what the weather was like and to see what was left of this full moon, I grabbed my coffee and wandered out my front door onto my front deck to get a better look at the moon. As soon as I stepped my bare feet onto the deck, I was greeted by the "hoo hoo" of an owl somewhere in the forest in my backyard. Over joyed in just hearing that, which isn't very often, it just so happened that in return another " hoo hoo" came from another owl close by. Now at this point, I felt that I needed to get off the front deck and stand closer to the forest line of my back yard, hoping to hear more of the owls and their gossiping as I stood there under a descending full moon barefooted in the wet grass from the early morning dew. The area around me began to feel so magical. The stars were just still barely visible as the sky began to lighten, except by now the owls that had been gossiping had stopped to give way to the morning songs of the awakening of the birds.

As the sun began to rise, I walked over to my patio set that faces the forest and I sat down with no phone, no distractions, just my cup of coffee, the sky above me and the earth below me. The earth had that fresh deep earthy scent of moss, pine needles, decaying leaves. I would breath that scent in so deep, as it is a scent that is only at this time of year, and oh how calming it is.

This morning ritual has now continued through all seasons, even though in the winter, I do not spend as long outside standing in the big snow drifts staring at the sky above me and the cold frozen ground beneath me, but just as I had mentioned that fall had it's own fresh deep earthly scent, fresh fallen snow also has it's own. It's crisp and clear and clean, I love to breath in the deep the cold air through my nose into my lungs, it almost has a cleansing effect. In the Spring time with the sky above me and the earth below me coming to life with flowers budding, tree's branches finally receiving their leaves and again the smell of new life fills the air. In the summer time, with the sky above me and earth below me, becoming this lush green grass cushioning my feet and the smell of all the sweet scents of blooming flowers.

I have been doing my morning ritual for so long now, that I am able to distinguish what type a bird is in the area just by their song. When I sit still out back on my patio furniture, I will have Blue Jay's, Cardinal's , Robin's, Canary's and Crows stand and feed just a few feet from where I sit and a few times I have been blessed with seeing a Bald Eagle fly over the tops of the tree's to a nest that it has along the Lake near me. Now, not only do I just have the birds that are coming to visit and have morning coffee with me. I have had also the company of Grey Squirrels, Red Squirrels (who are very territorial and nervous little critters) and Chipmunks. One very special morning, I had a baby Raccoon walk right up to me and sniff my bare toe and then walk away. ( I still don't know if it was showing a kind affirmation that he accepts me or it was repelled by the smell of my feet)! But one of my most favorite animals that has finally after over a year of living here, has finally most recently come to join the morning coffee routine. A beautiful doe has been coming to visit (she is pictured above) she was very hesitant and skittish at first of me, but over a little bit of time this beautiful animal began to realize that I was no threat to her and now she will feed about ten feet away from me, another wonderful visitor to have my morning coffee with.

This is the way I thread the needle of my life. In the comfort and solitude of the sky above me and the earth below me. A place where there is no judgment, no deadlines, no anger, no anxiety, no chaos or noise. Just the peace in the wild life around me, the peace in the sky above me and the peace in the earth below me. This is where I come to be whole.