Thursday Thoughts: Beauty in the Brown

I recently looked through my drafts, and stumbled upon this one from a little over three years ago.

There were no words, just these photos. 

As I looked through them, I remembered. 

At the time I snapped these photos, I was going through a very challenging time in my life. My daughter was a young preschooler, and my son was still a toddler. The days seemed to bring more chaos than peace, and I regularly felt overwhelmed and unhappy. 

It didn't help that it was winter, which meant everything looked brown and dead, like the photo below. 

One day while my daughter was at preschool, I put my son in the jogging stroller, and we went for a walk on a nature trail near our home. I had traveled this trail many times, but this time was different. 

As I looked away from all the dead and brown bushes and brambles, I noticed life. 

Green moss had grown on these huge rocks, and it was beautiful to me. I was struck by the contrast of this soft, living, green moss growing on the cold (and what I assumed to be lifeless) gray rock.

 As I walked further, I noticed an old rotting tree stump, and there was a strange fungus growing out of it. 

I looked a little closer, and saw unique ring details on each level of the fungus. It's shape made me think of a rainbow and even though it seems odd, I was in awe of its beauty. 

I finished my walk that day with a lighter heart, after receiving inspiration that I felt was sent straight from heaven, just for me, exactly when I needed it. 

I realized that although my days were chaotic and crazy in that period of time, there was still "life" if I would just look beyond the brambles and the brown. Each of my days held beauty within them, and I just needed to look a little more sincerely for it instead of focusing on what I found amiss.

This moment of inspiration changed my life, and helped me cultivate a more positive attitude. 

Seeing these photos and remembering this experience created a natural moment to reassess my life at this moment, and I find myself in need of focusing more on the positive parts of my days again. I'm so grateful to have stumbled upon this unfinished and unposted blogpost, because it gave me a reason to reflect on this past experience that was comforting and helpful in a time of need. 

Do you have any experiences with being uplifted and inspired by nature? I always feel a little closer to God when I'm outdoors and enjoying the natural beauty of the world around me.

-Bridget :)