When Insights Appear - September 03

Insights have a rhythm of their own. They don’t come from a busy, restless mind but often appear as if out of the blue. In today’s 5 Minutes in Nature, Liz reflects on a simple realisation she had about going on a walk—and how it reveals a deeper truth about the way insights unfold. They don’t require effort or striving; they simply arise, fresh and clear, without a story attached.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott and I'm out in the morning. I've come down to our recreation field which is not far out of the village and it's a bit misty and damp today. The sun is going to come out later but it's quite unusual because it's been such a long dry spell to have the damp coolness in the air and the grass I can see is going to be wet so I'm going to get my feet wet as I walk across the grass later. And today I am reflecting on well I'm going out for a walk with a friend later and this walk has prompted today's reflection. You see I'm in the middle of a big move around in the house moving my office from one room to another and decorating and everything is a little bit upside down at the moment but one of the bonuses of this and I'll probably talk about some of the other bonuses or benefits that I've been learning over the coming few days is that you discover things that you had forgotten about and one of the things I discovered was a series of books or quite a few books that I've been given over the years of walks so walking books with walks in there maybe three four five mile suggested walks in the county of Devon which is where I live and for some reason over the years I've been given these books and I've never really been prompted to follow them it just hasn't been anything that's really drawn me and then suddenly I find myself as I move my books from one room to another looking at these books that I haven't looked at for years and I'm like oh I really feel inspired to follow some walks now my sister loves following walking books I'm the kind of person that just likes to go on probably familiar walks or I'll go to a place and I'll look at my map and create my own walk I tend not to follow books that have already got pre-mapped walks in them but she's always advocated that it's a really lovely way to get to see different places and there's something I feel has shifted in me and this is what I want to explain because it's not about the walking it's about the shift with the inside out understanding the three principles one of the things I find is that the more I explore the nature and the principles behind how we operate as human beings the more I pull my attention towards the truth of who I am and the less I try with my mind to change myself to change my behaviors to do things differently the more I'm drawn in the direction of a settled space of mind that's looking to a deeper truth within me the more I find that things shift on their own seemingly without any trying or effort from me and this is just a really good example because today I'm going to go out on a walk and I'm going to use the walking book and there's nothing in me saying oh I think it's a good idea or my sister said this was a good idea or I think I should use these books because I haven't used them within me there is a shift where I feel very deeply drawn to do it there's nothing on it there's no energy behind it it just feels right and I'm using this as an illustration because as you explore the truth of who you truly are as you notice the nature of thought how thought can take you away and it can confuse you and how we create stories and how when you bring your awareness away from those stories back to the truth of who you are when you start to understand this for yourself not as an intellectual concept but you start to understand it and see it playing out in yourself then what you'll see is things start to shift seemingly on their own you don't need to put in all the effort and I know it's a really simple example but this is a really great example I've gone from not wanting to use these books thinking that I don't need them you know having not a lot of thought about it but just thinking just kind of going that's not for me to suddenly a clear space where it's like yes I want to do this so today is just a recognition that that change doesn't come about through hard work and effort change comes about by seeing something differently within having a shift an insight from within and that's the kind of change that really is magical

Reviews

This gives me hope. Yesterday was a very challenging day, so I welcome hearing this. Thank you Liz.