Nature-Starved

Yesterday, inside the MRI machine, I tried to calm myself. Even deep breathing is out--it can jiggle your body, and hence mess up the images.

So all I had was my mind. I could hear music in the deafening electronic beeping, and voices and words.

But in moments like those, when I want to block out the world, I draw on beautiful places I have been. Usually I am floating in water, one with the world. But this time, my images were almost used up.

I have not been in the water enough. I have not been in nature enough. I had to scratch and scramble and scrape to find a fresh image. At last I found one: me, floating in the river in the Santa Ynez Valley, stones beneath my back, silver leaves blowing in the wind, giant blue dragonflies zooming by my nose. The mountains all around, the water carrying me so gently downstream I could barely feel it. It was cool, the sun was hot, and I felt completely tingly and alive.

I need to be out in nature more. I need to fill my cup, to replenish my experiential archive, to calm my soul.

What calms your mind when you are freaking out? Where does your mind go?