“If you go down into the woods today, you’re sure of a big suprise…“
…Okay I didn’t come accross a Teddy Bear’s pic-nic, but I wouldn’t have been at all suprised if I had!
Yesterday after my little boy’s swimming lesson, instead of going straight home we decided to go for a walk in the woods.
Where we live we’re lucky enough to be surrounded by beautiful countryside and lots of trees!
Our walk started like this:
We have a lot of native British woodlands where we live, but this particular one is dominated by the tall spindly pines, and surrounded by fields and more forests.
I love how the paths sweep around and you never know what beautiful things you may come across around the next corner. Even though I’ve been here before, nature is always changing, so it always looks so different.
Each time I enter the forest, she always seems to give me what I need.
I’m showing you these photos in case you needed a little bit of forest therapy. Breathe in the fresh, damp air of the forest,
Feel the spring in the forest floor beneath your feet.
Inhale the woody-green fragrance of warm pine trees and an abundance of ferns and nettles.
I’m also showing you these photos because of what we came across next… It made me pause for thought:
What a gate taught me about threshold moments
We came across a gate.
That’s right a gate.
A gate with no fence or boundary around it.
Just a gate.
I’m not sure what the purpose of this gate was. But it did remind me of the importance of honouring the thresholds.
This gate made me stop. Pause. And consider my next very literal steps.
I chose to walk through the gate.
I stopped and silently asked for permission to step into this part of the woods.
Permission was granted, and it felt special.
It felt I had entered a different world. I actually looked around as I expected to see unicorns and goblins (she says only half joking… 😉 )
Walking through the gate, honouring the threshold changed how I felt. It changed how I experienced the moment. It brought me into a deeper presence within myself and my surroundings. It brought greater intention to what I was doing.
I was not just arriving and wandering around admiring the view.
I was present, connected and aware.
Threshold place, spaces and moments are important.
Whether it’s the threshold to your home, or threshold moments in your life.
As a society we have seemed to push thresholds to the bottom of our to-do list, often too busy to notice them.
Your turn…
But right now, take a moment to pause, to take a deep breath and become present.
Let this be a threshold moment.
What are you consciously going to choose to do next.
It may be exactly what you were going to do anyway, but now you can do it a little more intention.