Being Outside and the Joy of Nature Sketching

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I love being outside and one of my favorite ways to really be present and mindful when I am outside is by sketching.  By taking time to stop, look and draw I find that I activate all my senses, my curios intellectual side and my more intuitive inner, spiritual self. 

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Even sketching my grill, which at the moment is creating a micro-climate for my seedlings, (being black and absorbing a lot of heat from the sun and warming them from below), causes me to awaken, be more alert and engaged with the world around me.

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Nature journaling, of course takes that sort of awareness to a whole new level.  Spending intentional time in the woods forms relationships and connections between myself and the natural world that have been previously disrupted by modern life. It puts me back in touch with the powerful natural rhythms of  nature and realigns my own rhythms with the rising and setting of the sun and the changing of the seasons. 

So many wonder-ful  things to experience in nature. Today I was only out for about and hour and I had the wonder filled chance to see a pair of Baltimore Oriole's and then spot their nest in a near by maple tree. I was entertained by a Gray Catbird walking on the ground and quacking like a duck! No kidding, catbirds are related to mockingbirds and are expert imitators, and will impersonate many other bird and animal sounds. I also got to watch a Great Egret stalk around and then catch a fish and swallow it down it's slender throat. I realize that our pond and property is a place filled with wildlife but I also know that nature is ALL around even in a city park. If you take time and sit quietly and spend some time observing day after day you'll begin to see an entirely new world emerge before your eyes. One that was always there but which you were not aware of.  Dedicate a few days to spending an hour or so outside in the same spot  and see what you can discover!