Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me,
Liz Scott,
Where every day in February you find me out and about listening to the wisdom in nature.
And I've been staying for a few days with a group of friends in a really beautiful location in Dorset.
It's a large house,
A shared house,
And we've been sharing breakfasts and meals.
It's been a birthday celebration.
And this gorgeous house has got a garden,
A vegetable garden,
It's got a swimming pond,
It's got a river at the bottom of the garden.
It's just the most delightful,
Quintessentially English place.
And here we are in Dorset,
And I've been walking some of the footpaths and finding new routes and discovering what it is like to be on different footpaths and to experience slightly different landscape and see the similarities and the differences of where I am when I'm walking from home.
And one of the things that has really inspired me is the tree.
And if you've been listening to Five Minutes in Nature recently,
You'll know that I was called by the tree,
So it felt the other day,
To walk up and actually just touch the trunk.
It was the first day I was here,
It was quite a misty day,
But even though it was misty,
We could all,
As we sat in the house,
Look up onto the hillside and see this magnificent silhouette of an old oak tree at the top of a hill.
And it really called me,
So I walked up to it and touched it and just had some time with it and felt that real inspiration of what it's like to be connected to nature,
Connected to the oneness of everything.
And what I've realised is the power of that calling,
Because in this house there are people who are very successful,
Run very successful lives and are in the measure of success when it comes to looking at monetary success and work success and career success.
These guys are really,
Really at the top of the ladder of success.
But what's been really interesting for me is that one by one,
At least half of the group have made their way up to the oak tree.
There's something that seems to call in all of us to be connected with nature.
And that really surprised me,
Because sometimes I feel it's just me and maybe a few other people that like going for walks.
But what's been really inspiring is to see that no,
It's actually deeper than that.
There is a real calling within us.
And I suppose for me,
What I would love to see is that we,
All of us,
Fall into that space where we can hear that calling more clearly.
It's always there.
It's always there.
It's just that our minds can get so busy that it crowds over and disrupts what we are called to do.
We lose track of it.
It gets covered over.
And part of Five Minutes in Nature is to encourage you to settle back into that space and to hear that calling within you.
And I've noticed that nature is an extraordinary catalyst.
For me,
When I get out in nature,
I find my mind seems to naturally settle.
And in that settling,
I feel a sense of connection.
And it's not something I can explain intellectually.
It's probably not something I can measure.
It's more of an internal knowing.
It's a connection to something deeper and more profound.
And one of the things I'm curious about in the society that we live in is that so many people live lives that are disconnected from the natural world.
And yet,
It seems to me that the natural world is a catalyst and a balm for the soul.
It can have us settle back into that nourishing,
Healthy space.
And we can then experience what it is to feel a sense of belonging and connection.
And that is just so special.
I'm delighted to know it's not just me,
That there are so many other people that are drawn to nature.
And if you are one of those people,
Please listen in.
The natural world is so nourishing.
Go out and experience it.
