I think that in our world, the Western world, there is too much emphasis on what it is to be “crazy”. People will tell you that you are crazy if you are aware of things that they have missed. They will tell you that you are crazy if you see something in a person that they don’t want to have to acknowledge. They will tell you that you are crazy if your opinion differs from their own on pretty much anything at any given time.
This is not helpful. And who are they to try to tell us what our sanity levels are? How presumptuous can a person be? Although I think that mental illness is a “thing”, we also need to examine how “crazy” this world in which we live really is! Sometimes there are very valid reasons for losing one’s grip on life and reality. Stress and anxiety and fear can do that to anyone…and I do mean ANYONE…at any given time. How do we handle our stress and anxiety and fear? That is more important than numbing out our emotions and dulling our senses.
For me, a trip back to nature will always do the trick. There is a saying that my grandmother used to say and sing whenever we would go for our nature walks. It is a saying that I have noticed is popping up as a meme on Facebook as well. The saying goes like this, “Out into the Woods I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” As a small child I did not know what my grandmother was meaning, but as she would pick up her basket for collecting wild herbs and get me into my shoes, she would say it with a lilt in her voice. That lilt was part of the Celtic way. And so off we would go and we would commune with nature.
To this day a trip into nature helps me settle within. I am able to feel myself realign with my inner sense of well-being. I am able to find answers to problematic situation. And if that nature should include with it a body of water such as a river or lake, then the fringe benefits will indeed abound! I am quite animistic in my approach to nature. I see and hear and feel Source within every single thing, be in animate or inanimate. So to hear whispers of encouragement in the leaves of the trees is not unusual for me in any way. In fact, there have been a few times where actually having my “listening switch” in the “on” position while out in nature has saved my butt. So I always listen. I hear the birds songs, and I hear when they suddenly grow quiet and still. I hear the rustling of the breeze in the leave of the trees and the gentle hum of the insects when the breeze stills. When I walk or sit beside a body of water I can feel the negative ions charging my body and feeding my soul. I become still within. I let go of the mental clutter. I reconnect with my own deep essence. And so, beginning tomorrow while on vacation at the lake, “Out into the woods I go to lose my mind and find my soul”!