Our Most Reliable Healer: Nature

I love the ocean, but it's not quite as healing as the lake to me. Maybe it's because I need to be grounded and there's something about the water being "held" a bit more closely by the surrounding shores that transports that held sensation to my cells a bit more quickly. But you know that. That's probably why you're here. And I'll admit that while I love the idea of "camp" and therefore a "creative girlboss" camp on a lake was a definite "yes" for me, I didn't expect that this time away would be as full of meaningful, vulnerable connections as it was. I was teary within the first hour and my heart left overflowing. One such connection was with fellow lake-lover and talented writer Leisse Wilcox who I quickly came to think of as a more approachable Danielle LaPorte, with a voice that resonated with me in a special way. I've been gobbling up her content since that weekend, and today we're sharing a piece that originally appeared on her blog that I'm certain will speak to your soul. Thanks for sharing your words with us, Leisse. 

I’m sitting on the deck of a one room cabin I’ve rented for a couple days.  It’s a beautiful day, and I as sit deciding between wanting a second cup of coffee or a second sleep, I’m aware that the only thing I can hear is the sound of the wind in the leaves, the water in the creek, and the occasional bird in a tree.  

It’s so peaceful, both around me, and in me.

This is a deep level of calm I enjoy deliciously, as it is not always present.  As a self-employed millennial and mama of three, I understand intimately what it means to be “busy.”

Our generation is pioneering the concept of a work life blend, understanding that “work life balance” is a myth.  Necessarily, we understand that our work will creep into our lives, and our lives will creep into our work.  And we’re ok with this.  We have day jobs and side hustles and brands we’re building and five-year plans and short term goals before that.  We know that we can do anything we want, if it doesn’t yet exist we can invent it, and we know that the freedom that partnership brings can – at times – feel suffocating. 

We accept that we are very likely to never be with the same company for a lifetime career, and we are comfortable with carving out our own paths to walk along.  We are clear that it would be a rare occurrence for us to start at the bottom and work our way up, and are open to the notion that starting at the top of the company we’re building is starting at the bottom at the very same time.  We know that both success and failure can strike in an instant, and we know that if we play our cards right and figure out how to beat the damn algorithm, we can learn from our failure, and strategize that our success comes right into our laps. 

We know that having an entrepreneurial spirit is synonymous with a high value of and investment in intellectual capital, and that this means we will probably never have a 9 to 5 job.  So while we never really stop working – because we never really stop thinking – we also know that our geographic mobility allows us to periodically escape somewhere for the day, provided we have our phone, our sunglasses, and a reliable wifi connection.

Having the freedom and mobility and constant inner monologue about work and life and brand and balance and having it all and for how long and endless access to more and more can sometimes bring a sister down.  Why?  Because enjoying all that freedom gets pretty noisy.  The process of constantly creating oneself can feel both liberating, while also leaving you feeling (at times) restrained by the liberty.

Which brings me back to where I am, right here, right now, sitting in the audience of nature.

As millennials, we talk a lot about self-improvement.  We read the books.  We follow the Instagram accounts.  We talk to the people.  We invest in experiences, not things.  We use “mindful” and “conscious” as adjectives to preface all that we do, from eating to meditating to living to love making.  And still, amongst all the conscious mindfulness, many of us are wrapped up in stress and anxiety; amongst all our access to experts and information and apps and leaked wiki’s, we forget about the world’s greatest stress relief, time’s most reliable healer: nature. [Go here to finish her post!]