Nature Nurtures

Nature can be your secret remedy, your manna, your instant restoration, soothing your frazzled mind and opening new doors to creativity, says Neha Gupta

- Neha Gupta

I have often wondered at the singularity vs duality of nature and myself. How are we both connected/one or how are we both apart/different? Very often, I simply draw my energy from nature—the soothing balm to my spirit, the spa for my weary body, the relaxant for my overworked mind. Mostly, I find her giving, even if I ask for nothing. She is like manna, filling my lap with her bounties—creative inspiration, better health, and an opportunity to connect with the spiritual, the metaphysical, and the beyond.

There are fleeting moments when I experience my oneness with her, where the boundaries are dissolved and there isn’t much difference between her and me. Standing under a tree in a rain shower, my arms outstretched, my face upturned to the skies, I’ve experienced this oneness. In the melting moment of a sunset, where the earth dissolves into experiencing the grand dance of the setting sun, the ochres, the pinks, the purples romancing her like a lover, I have felt the union.

For me, it is a force which gives me life. It is my secret remedy, my abundant, ubiquitous source, not dependent on size, scale, or volume. A tiny violet wild flower can give me as much pleasure as a clean sandy shore, kissed by a pristine ocean for miles.

Today, I let my secret out. People often ask me, “What keeps you smiling, what gives you the ability to find joy in small things, what bestows this childlike wonder in you?” For me, it’s very simple. Apart from my physical and emotional needs, and sometimes not even those, nature is my ‘go-to.’ It can be yours too. I have met and spoken with many people who have formed their own special bond with nature; for who, in their own way, nature is a critical factor in their lives. Let me quote a few of these people.