A little girl with her father’s brown puppy dog eyes and curly brown hair plays and moves freely in the woods with a lightness about her. She wears translucent dragon fly wings. Hovering over the landscape, she explores with a wild and independent sense of imagination. She likes to climb trees, watching the world pass by from a different, higher perspective. Shimmying up thin trunk, she rests on a branch fit to hold her. Climbing as high as possible, she thrusts her feet and legs out, hanging by her strong hands, tree bending from the weight of her. She slowly touches down softly to the earth, leaving a wake of arched striped maples telling of her travels.

I strive to return to that little girl's mind. The freedom to just be in the excitement of  the moment as is. Each moment is a new opportunity for me to embrace what is and find that lightness in my step again. I find the mind wants to tell me that all these "adult" things are more important than sitting in the woods, but I am discovering the mind is not accurate. The only thing that does truly matter is just being.

Gentle and light the path. I keep finding peace when I am present.

Jen Deraspe, owner of Nurture Through Nature, is a holistic retreat facilitator and practitioner of The Work of Byron Katie. She lives off the grid on Pleasant Mountain in Denmark, Maine. www.ntnreats.com, (207) 452-2929.