A number of years ago, my grandparents sold their family home – “the cottage” – and I was devastated. That loss felt so immense, tangled up in memories of the past as well as hopes, goals, expectations for the future; the cottage was the place I felt safe, the place where I felt free and …
Sorting Books
This weekend, I pulled out a rather sizable stack (or rather, a few stacks) of books which had been piling up in the corner of my bedroom, collecting dust. I have numerous other books elsewhere in the apartment as well, most of which are situated neatly on bookshelves - ones I've already gone through and …
Knowing Your Neighbor
(Written in my notebook on March 9th) For the past couple of months, I've been trying to learn how to identify trees and other flora. I've gotten to where I can recognize some, though a number of plants still elude me, and for some reason I'm constantly mixing up ash and elm... but I've noticed …
Have you immersed yourself in nature lately?
Recently, I participated in something called forest bathing. For those not familiar with it, the experience doesn't require actually showering outside, but rather immersing yourself in the natural world. The practice of forest bathing typically involves traversing a path with a forest therapy guide, who invites participants to mindfully use their senses and observe the …
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Guilt, Anxiety, & Other Distractions
Months ago, I had the idea to start a blog. I thought it would inspire me to write more consistently and help me get more accustomed to putting my ideas out into the world. As you can tell by my lack of posts for the past few months, things didn't exactly go according to plan. …
On Wanting to Write a Blog
I recently heard the following quote: “if you really want to do something you’ll find a way, if you really don’t, you’ll find an excuse”. It struck me because I thought of a number of things that I thought I had wanted to do, but never actually done – or started, but never finished. For …
Spending Time in Nature
I have always loved spending time in nature, but lately I've been hungry for it, like I am for a food I've been craving (usually mint chocolate chip ice cream), and missing it like a loved one whom I haven't seen in a while. As a child, I used to spend hours exploring the forest …
The Journey Begins
I am a writer. Or at least, I want to be. I feel the most free, the most creative, the most alive when I'm writing... And yet, I find that I don't actually write nearly as often as I would like to, and certainly not enough to ever actually get something published. So, I'm hoping …
Adventures of a Hummingbird 