Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me,
Liz Scott,
Up on Dartmoor as the evening sun is dipping behind me,
Behind the hill,
Butterdon Hill it's called here on Dartmoor.
And as it goes,
It's the last rays are glancing across the yellowy orange grass here up on the moorland.
It's quite still today.
There's a hint of a breeze behind me,
Which is very well because it's been incredibly hot once again today and I'm back on Dartmoor yesterday and the day before I was looking after my mum.
And today's reflection is all about what you miss when you get lost in stories and thought.
And it's for you to gently reflect on this for yourself.
Ask yourself the question,
What do I miss when I get lost and distracted?
By thought.
My friend met me for a walk today and this reflection is prompted by something that happened on the walk.
She came here on Don where it was quite hot and we took a very slow ambling walk up,
Up,
Up onto the moor.
And I was still feeling a little bit unsettled having seen my mum.
She's deteriorated with her dementia and I was feeling this both relief,
If I'm honest,
Of having a bit of time to myself,
But also a sense of missing her and hoping that she was okay.
And I was feeling unsettled and I was on unsettled ground and you know what I say about unsettled thinking,
Everything looks unsettled when and I'm in unsettled thinking.
And the friend I was walking with is also aware of the inside out understanding.
And so as I was talking,
I just said to her,
I just want to be,
I just want to get things off my chest.
I just want to talk.
Is that okay?
And she said,
Absolutely fine.
And I went into different stories of what was going on in my world.
And I found myself going around in little circles,
Getting a bit distracted with more and more stories and thoughts.
And she was patiently listening.
And then at one point she put her hand on my arm and pointed over my shoulder and she said,
Look.
And I paused in my thinking and I looked behind me and there was a buzzard taking off from the ground.
Now here in the UK,
A buzzard is a hawk.
It's a bird of prey and they are very large and very magnificent.
And this one seemed to be just wanting for us to notice it and it very calmly,
Quietly flew over our heads,
Glided over our heads I should say,
And made its way into the distance and we were transfixed watching it.
And when I came out of my sense of awe at this beautiful bird,
I suddenly had this realization that the stories I had been talking about,
And the rabbit holes I'd been going down,
And the concerns I had about things that were going on in my life,
They just weren't there anymore.
It was as though the buzzard had helped me press pause on all my thoughts and thinking.
But had my friend not been there,
I would not have seen the buzzard.
And I was reflecting,
Thinking,
Wow.
If I hadn't been paused and stopped in my myriad of stories and thoughts I would have missed this beautiful creature that took off in front of me.
And we then went on to have a conversation which was how much do we actually miss in life because we get lost in the distraction of thought and stories.
And for me that was a really rich reflection and that's the invitation I've got for you today.
Can you ask yourself that question?
How much do I miss in life?
Because of the distraction of my thoughts.
What things of beauty do I have my back turned to because I am lost in the endless thought stream that distracts me from being in the present moment?
Don't judge yourself,
This is not a reason to beat yourself up,
This is a gentle,
Curious reflection,
Asking yourself what you miss in the present moment,
In the now,
Because you get lost in your thinking.
Let me know your reflections.
And of course,
Don't forget to join me tomorrow for another five minutes in nature.
