Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott.
In a place called Stokenham,
We've come away in our camper van for a few days.
It's right near the coast,
The south coast of Devon,
And I've actually taken a little walk along a footpath towards the church here at Stokenham,
And I'm just enjoying being in a different landscape,
Overlooking a valley with arable fields,
A little woodland beside me,
And a lane that's going to take me back to my campervan.
And today's reflection came about from my sister.
We were getting together for a little coffee and chat and I was talking to her about Insight Timer and she listens to these tracks on Insight Timer.
And she said to me,
You know,
How easy do you find it to get new content every day?
Because I turn up each day with a new track here on Insight Timer for five minutes in nature.
And I said,
Well,
You know,
Sometimes it feels harder and sometimes there are lots.
It's like it,
But whatever happens,
I always seem to find something for every day.
And I said,
Of course,
You know,
I'm not really saying anything too different.
I'm always trying to find different ways of saying the same thing.
And she looked at me and smiled and said,
Yes,
She said,
What I reckon is that you're trying to say each and every time in different ways.
Is that you're okay.
Just don't think about it too much.
You're okay,
Just don't think about it too much.
And I burst out laughing because I thought,
Well,
Yes,
That's exactly it.
That is,
In summary,
What I'm pointing to is that You're OK,
But just don't think about it too much.
So today's reflection is really pointing a spotlight on you being okay.
Now,
I have to make a distinction here,
And this may be the bit that is new for you,
But I'm not talking about you,
The identity of you being okay.
So,
For example,
If I was talking to myself,
I'm not talking about Liz being okay.
I'm not talking about there not having been anything in my life that I wish hadn't happened or has been traumatic in my life.
I'm not saying that Liz's journey through life is okay.
I'm looking beyond the Liz,
The identity of Liz,
To the essence and core of Liz.
And it's the same with you,
The essence and core of you,
That universal energy that is at the core of everything.
And as I look around in this field,
I can see up the lane,
There's a lane beside me where there are trees overhanging with their orangey,
Yellowy leaves.
And the life force that creates these trees,
That comes through them,
That creates the chestnuts that are about to fall to the ground,
That creates the oak leaves and acorns that are also about to fall to the ground,
The life force that creates these little flies that are buzzing around my head,
Or the grass that is pushing up through the ground,
Or the last of the pink campions that are just putting on a show before they fall back for winter into the hedgerows.
The life force that creates me,
You,
The natural world,
This deeper intelligence that is at the core and essence of all of us.
Well,
That's the bit that I'm pointing to when I say you're okay.
Like,
At that essence and core,
Before the identity,
The experiences,
Before your thoughts and beliefs,
Who you truly are,
That thread that connects you with everything,
That bit of you is okay.
And then the second bit to the phrase,
You're okay,
Just don't think about it too much,
Is a recognition.
That as human beings,
We have an experience where we forget that we're okay.
We get lost in a world of thought.
Now,
Thought is not just the little thinking voice that speaks in your head.
Thought is the creator of everything we see.
Thought creates what it is that I see in the world.
It creates what I feel,
What I touch in the world.
Thought is the medium through which I have a human experience.
Experience.
I am deeply OK and I'm having a human experience,
Which means I keep forgetting I'm deeply OK.
And it seems to me that the spiritual journey through life is this remembering and forgetting of who we truly are.
But ultimately,
You can sum it up in this simple sentence.
You're OK.
Just don't think about it too much.
Let me know your reflections on this.
And of course,
To join me again tomorrow for another five minutes in nature.
