Peace In My Soul 

All too often I feel stressed. As if I might just “flame out” to quote one of my favorite Disney movies. So while I’ve been on this journey trying to find what makes me happy and how to be that person more often, I really have had to become more self aware. I have had to pay more attention to my moods, my triggers, and also to times when I felt more “zen”, shall we say. As I was taking stock of what was setting me off, I also noticed that there was somewhere that I always felt completely at peace. How could I have been blind for so long? 

Nature Lover

As a self proclaimed wanderer, I am already super aware of just how much I love the beauty of nature. I mean, heck, I had wholeheartedly intended to major in Environmental Science in college. My ultimate goal was to become a Forestry Technician.  People that know me now would tell you that you must be crazy if you told them my original plan was to become a Park Ranger in a National Park or Reserve. But truth be told, that is where some of the deepest parts of my heart and soul will always belong. 

Am I going back to college to earn a new degree? I seriously doubt that. But I’ve also learned, NEVER SAY NEVER. So what do I do with the knowledge and self realization of what brings me happiness? The answer is simple. I need to find more time to spend in my happy place. And thankfully we have our own little slice of heaven. In the curve of a small one lane road in rural Western Kentucky sits a tranquil pond. It’s filled to the brim with fish and acres of woods chock-full with all kinds of wildlife.

Merging Who I Was With Who I Am

So the next question I had for myself is how do I find the balance between nature loving Heather of the 1990’s and the mother of 4, no free time Heather I am now? That almost sounded like a trick question when I asked myself. But the real answer seemed clear when I really put thought into it. I would have to decide when things at home could wait and use that time to go outside and soak up nature. This will undoubtedly take some time to get used to. I have allowed so much of my identity to fall into who I am as a wife, a mother, and a homemaker that it will be a bit of a struggle to allow that definition to change to encompass who I am at my core. 

What’s Next?

First and foremost, more time outside is what’s next. I still struggle with allowing myself that time to go out and breathe in what is right there at the ready when I know so much still needs to be done at home. But so long as I know I am a work in progress and that this isn’t the end result, then I think the present is an okay place to be. So with that being said, I implore you……GO OUT AND SMELL THE ROSES. Or in my case, go feed “the fishies” as we call them at our house.