My name is CC and I will be your host today. This is my first time hosting the bar and I’m excited for this opportunity because I’ve been a part of the D’Verse community for quite awhile. I write, mostly poetry, over at my blog and enjoy writing to the prompts that the many contributors at D’Verse challenge us with. I’m grateful to so many of you for stretching me and encouraging me as a writer. Thank you.

When I think about nature, I think first about healing…the soothing, calming properties nature has on my soul when I spend time outside. In my time at D’Verse I have read many of you refer to nature as a place of sanctuary, a cathedral, and similar terms that suggest it is also a sacred place for you as well. Many famous people have been quoted with similar feelings as well:

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.'” –Sylvia Plath

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.” –Anne Frank

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” –Henry David Thoreau

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” –Rachel Carson

In fact, research and science are discovering what people know from experience:

“Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical well being, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. It may even reduce mortality, according to scientists. Research done in hospitals, offices, and schools has found that even a simple plant in a room can have a significant impact on stress and anxiety.” (Source: http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/enhance-your-wellbeing/environment/nature-and-us/how-does-nature-impact-our-wellbeing)

For today’s prompt, I want you to think about a time when you went to nature to be healed or soothed and then share that with us. You may also feel free to share a picture of some spot in nature that has particular meaning to you, but please limit it to fewer than two photos. For example, this is the place I often go to when I need to clear my head:

“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place

Thanks for sharing. I look forward to reading your posts!

CC

If you are new here, this is how this works:

* Write a poem of 25 lines or less about how nature has healed, soothed, or inspired you.

* Click on Mr. Linky below and enter your name and URL (web address to your specific poem)

* Visit others that have linked their poems. This is a community made richer by interaction and communication.

* Have fun & enjoy.