The Patience of Nature
Take a walk in the woods and discover Patience - the common thread in all of Earth's teachings.
Ask any naturalist how best to understand the Earth and they’ll tell you to take a walk. Not a hike, mind you. A walk. A stroll. They’re serious. Indeed, Muir never hiked. He walked. Best done when the weather’s not quite made up its mind, too. When the sky has many moods to express and you can feel its temperament in the heavy air and rain and fog.
A stroll to you and I is like a meander to a stream or a gust to the wind. There’s no measurable pace, nor singular objective. No constraints of time. You’re free to stop and wonder at sounds and smells and textures and perspectives with no urge to press on. Your head is up and your eyes all around. You stoop to examine a rock or watch as a stream navigates its way around a fallen tree. The constant bustle of nature is alive and vibrant yet steady, calm, simultaneously deliberate and carefree, the wisdom of eons of existence at once on display, the magnitude of past and future so incomprehensible that only the present remains in focus.
Walk in the woods and you’ll find your senses sharper, your wit controlled, your temperament lightened. Walk in the woods and you’ll discover Patience: the common thread in all of Earth’s teachings.
We want to acknowledge and thank the past, present, and future generations of all Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples whose ancestral lands we travel, explore, and play on. Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!
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