The Joy Of Simplicity- February 05

When life feels hectic or overwhelming, take it as a reminder to appreciate life’s simple pleasures. In today’s '5 Minutes in Nature,' Liz pauses for a lunch break during a cold, wet, and windy walk. Sitting on the floor of a church porch with a cup of tea and a sandwich, she realizes there’s nowhere else she’d rather be and nothing more satisfying she could ask for

Transcript

Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott and each day in February you find me out and about listening to nature's wisdom and today well I don't know if you can imagine it but I'm sitting on the floor in the porch way of a church.

We're at a place called Brumford Speak and Brumford Speak is right beside the River Axe and today I've been walking alongside the River Axe on the River Axe Valley Trail and it's been cold it's been wet and for much of the walk along with my sister we've been going through mud and trying to paddle through the river that's so flooded its banks and it's been an absolute adventure and we've got well we were warm from walking but when we wanted to take a bit of time to stop for lunch we were looking for somewhere that would be sheltered and dry so we could take out our sandwiches and get ourselves a cup of tea from our thermos and just give ourselves a little bit of time to rest and to have a little bit of food and we came across Brumford Speak and the church and we just knew that if we went into the church porch way we'd be able to get ourselves a bit of shelter and a bit of respite from the wind and the rain and that's where you find us now and so like I say I'm sitting on the floor I've got a cup of tea beside me I'm eating a homemade flapjack and today what I really want to reflect on is the the wonder of the simple pleasures in life and it's so easy isn't it I don't know about you but certainly for me it can be so easy to get caught up in the rush of life and the busyness of life and trying to buy the latest gadgetry and technology and I don't know what it is but that can sometimes feel like it gets in the way so it's a real delight for me when I strip everything back and I am walking and I do encourage you to get walking if you can and I'm walking and I'm cold and I'm wet because of the weather and I find myself able to get a dry spot to sit down and to eat a very simple lunch and there's something about this simplicity when you're out and about and you're out in the open air and you're a little bit chilled and a bit cold when you have a sandwich and you have a flapjack and you have a cup of tea it feels so delicious and so special and so if you had offered me a very fancy three-course meal or you'd said do you want to go into this church porch way and have a cup of tea and a sandwich I would have chosen the latter every single time because I don't know about you but when I absolutely slow down and my mind is slow and I'm settled and I pour a cup of tea and it's cold but the tea is warm so it's cold outside but I'm drinking a warm cup of tea it's accentuated in its specialness I love it when I experience and really relish and feel deep gratitude and joy for the simple simple things in life and that's my request of you today is just experiment and explore what it's like to strip things away which is why walking is so lovely strip things away right down to the simple and then enjoy really relish and enjoy those simple pleasures in life and there's something about getting out into the elements you know when it's dry and it's lovely it's easy isn't it everyone gets outside and enjoys the weather and gets walking or enjoys the outdoors but I'd really encourage you go out when it's cold when it's wet take some risks do something a bit different be in and with the weather even when it's not a delightful deliciously gorgeous day and then when you return home or when you stop for a break you will so appreciate it and feel a deep deep sense of gratitude and just as I'm sitting here in this church porch where the rain has started to come down even heavier and I'm feeling a real warm snugness and smugness at being warm and dry and having a simple and delicious lunch so yeah do go out enjoy the simplicity of life and really just step out into the weather whatever the weather and enjoy being outside as well

Reviews

My takeaway: Wow what an amazingly eloquent impromptu snippet! The sound quality is superb. I really wanted to be hiding from the rain too! A welcome reminder to embrace a bit of discomfort to savor the subsequent comfort :) KEY: 5*Insightful 4*Interesting 3*Okay 2*Not For Me 1*Irritating

Thank you for these wonderful reminders of how being in nature benefits us throughout the seasons, especially winter. I grew my personal connection by attending a wonderful, inspiring & for me life changing course last winter. It truly helped me embrace the healing of connecting to nature & others through the cold winter on the wonderful South Downs. I advocate & now volunteer for this wonderful organisation. They’re called growing wellbeing.org.uk based in Brighton.