Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott.
I'm just pausing and listening to the bird song.
Earlier on as I was walking my husband and I heard this bird sing so loudly from the trees and we were trying to guess what it was and he said a blackbird and I said maybe it's a robin.
I can never distinguish between the birds singing the robin and the blackbird.
And then we saw this beautiful plump blackbird in the branches of the tree singing his heart out and we knew it was the song of the blackbird.
I love hearing their song at this time of year.
It feels so exuberant.
It gives me a sense of energy.
And today my reflection is on a saying that my husband said to me as we were walking and he said live,
Love,
Laugh.
Live,
Love,
Laugh.
And he didn't quite know where that phrase had come from but as he said he said maybe it was an advert,
Maybe I've read it somewhere,
Maybe it's just come to me.
I don't exactly know but we had a conversation about how apt that phrase was and what it meant for us.
And of course I'd love you to reflect on what it means for you.
When I talk about live,
For me living my life to the full,
Well to be honest that doesn't mean getting out and whizzing around and having a bucket list that I'm ticking off places to visit.
On the contrary,
For me living life to the full means being out in nature,
Watching nature.
For example right beside me I can see a branch of a tree that is thick with green lichen and then there's an orange fungi growing and a brown bracket fungi growing and the moss is an emerald-y,
Yellow-y green rushing along the length of the branch.
Seeing that is me living.
Or another example is we bought some bulbs,
Daffodil bulbs that we put on our windowsill inside the house and over the last week we've been watching these bulbs grow.
They've gone from green and then we've watched the flower heads start to grow up tall and then suddenly we've seen these flower heads suddenly erupt into a golden yellow of colour as the daffodils,
These small narcissi daffodils,
Bloom on our window ledge.
And the joy I get from seeing nature unfold in front of my eyes that for me is living,
Living life to the full.
So when we look at the live part of that phrase for me it means noticing nature.
I feel so fulfilled when I see nature unfurl.
And then there's the love part of the quote,
Live,
Love,
Laugh.
For me love is what I feel for my husband,
My nephews,
It's what I feel for my elderly mum and my siblings.
Love for me is that sense of deep connection.
For me even when I reflect on my dear old dad who died,
I feel this strong sense of love and I feel this real rootedness and connection to something deeper in my life.
So for me love is about connection,
It's about being with people I care for,
It's about that exchange of energy,
It's about seeing them and being seen by them.
It's about compassion and caring,
It's about supporting and nurturing.
All of these words sum up what it is to love in my life.
And I'm curious what does love mean for you in your life?
And then of course there's the last word of that phrase,
Live,
Love,
Laugh.
And actually for me as he said that phrase that was the word that probably struck me the most.
You see I am quite a serious person.
I love reflecting and being philosophical about life,
As you probably know if you listen to these five minutes in nature.
I find that such an enjoyable part of my day and yet I've also got a sense of humour and I realise that maybe for me laughter is the bit that I might put a little bit more attention to.
I feel that the universe has got a sense of humour and I love it when things tickle my sense of humour and I share a joke with someone.
So for me that feels to be the one to put my attention on.
To laugh,
That is where I want to explore my sense of humour and to find myself dancing with a lightness through life.
So when you think of the phrase live,
Love,
Laugh,
What does it mean to you?
What are your reflections on that for you?
I'd love to hear from you.
Please do let me know.
And of course if you enjoy these five minutes in nature,
Well join me again tomorrow.
I'll be out and about tomorrow on another walk and reflecting on another five minutes in nature.
So do join me again then.
