The Woods Out Back

When I was younger and you’d get upset with me, what do you do get back to your center?

My stepson, now in his 40s with three beautiful children and an amazing wife, posed this question in a weekend conversation after he’d experienced an upset with his oldest daughter. The question took me back 35 (more or less) years, and I wondered ‘yeah, what did I do?’.

The first thing I thought of wasn’t about my own upset, but rather how I would reassure him of his dad’s love for him after the two of them had clashed. I noted that I didn’t first think of my own upset and honestly could only remember a couple times when I was upset with him. He probably remembers more. But I digress.

I responded that in all honesty I didn’t remember what I did. In those days I didn’t have the life experience and the commitment to personal and spiritual growth that I have today. Then I added, “I’m sure that I removed myself, giving both you and me some space.” Perhaps I took a long walk in our neighborhood or visited a nearby park to create that distance. I’m sure that whatever I did, I did to reconnect to the love I had and still have for him. I hope that after that distance, I returned and told him that. When we talked, he was in the process of doing just that.

Had he asked, ‘what do you do today when you get upset?’, I would have easily responded that I connect with nature as my channel to Source. I look to the woods out back. I may roam the woods, walk the labyrinth, or simply sit and look out at them. These woods are my place of solace and of clarity.

I turn to them for guidance, for comfort, and for inspiration. I take a burden into the woods out back and release it (not always as quickly as I might … sometimes I just stew or fret, unconsciously giving monkey-mind the steering wheel until I come to my senses). These woods are where I put the wheel back in my hands, turning off the chatter and allowing whatever the situation is to unfold. No force. Only flow. They speak, sometimes gently and subtly, other times more direct, and always with love and deep care.

While I’m blessed to live in these woods beneath the sacred peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, I recognize that wherever I am, I have access to their essence, the love and clarity that comes from Source and holds the answers to anything I need to know. Where are your ‘woods out back’? What do you do to regain your center amidst upset no matter how big or how small?

Click here for more pictures from The Woods Out Back.

Cindy studies the practical application of mysticism, reflects on life, writes, takes long walks with canine companion Zadie Byrd, and stewards a small property at 8000 feet in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Southern Colorado. In the midst of the changing environment of a chaotic world, each week Cindy invites the muse to explore how to navigate these uncharted waters and how to live a life aligned with our highest values in her blog at www.cindyreinhardt.com/blog