Occasionally for people, there are triggers that have the ability to remove us from the moment and launch us into the past memories of days gone by. For some it can be certain fragrances on the soft breeze, or melodies from an old song that resonate immediate emotions and thoughts.

For me recently it was the process of clearing out a room for new construction. The pictures we found and old keepsakes dusty and forgotten, the faint trance of Old Spice when opening an old jewelry box. In a heartbeat I was once more in my youth, riding the waves of feelings in a series of alternating slow motion and fast forward reflections. A Kaleidoscopic transformation from joy to sadness and back again, leaving me with the recollection of how precious the moments are that I have so often taken for granted.  The situations I have wished away, the relationships I have ignored, the goals that have slipped into the shadows of time. I recalled how so many times it seemed that the only relief I had most often turned out to be when I isolated myself in nature.

I often found myself walking through the woods, sitting alongside a stream, wading across the shallow current to an island of refuge from stress. Often just looking through a window in a house or car, just a glimpse of green leaves could somehow ease the strain. And nature never judged. It never refused, was never too busy, tired or not at home.  The streets offered an escape to peace; the darkness felt safe.  The healing of my soul had begun without me even being aware that it was taking place. Nature was doing its job, and despite how severe and harsh its realities can be, it also has held a salvation from anguish and pain for me over the years.

Of all the memories of hope and joyful times, it has been in places like Kauai’s  Na Pali coast line, Havasu Creek’s Mooney Falls, the Susquehanna River banks and trails around Sedona Arizona where some of the most important  healing has  taken place for me. Not in an office, group or classroom.  And there, alone in nature, was where I was able to process and evaluate all of the intentional and random words, actions and meanings of life around me.

Caring Choices understands how difficult it can be to engage in conversations about the eventual changes with which the natural process of life challenges us. Our “Elephant in the Room™” is specifically designed to break this silence. Alone, as a couple, or in a group, we have provided various scenarios and considerations to hopefully aide you in finding the  path you seek to whatever peaceful place you hope to reach When Nature Calls.

(c) 2014 Caring Choices