Nature: A Love Affair

Maria DiGiorgio is a lifelong New Yorker, who currently resides in Commack, with her family.  She is a devoted wife and mother, an educator and designer. Maria is active in her community, as a PTA mom and Girl Scout leader.  She has a passion for interior decorating and loves to garden. She is an avid reader, and enjoys writing about life experiences and parenthood, as well as her personal observations about the world around us.

After the cold and frigid temperatures of winter, there is nothing more enticing than the thought of getting outside and being active, in nature. Although there is beauty in snow-covered trees and in the sound of a crackling fire to sit by and pine away the night, the spirit longs to be free and unencumbered.  There is a need to be liberated from the heavy, lumbering clothing, the dire forecasts and the isolation winter can bring.  We are at the point where we are getting inklings of spring.  Crocuses are in bloom, the beginning shoots of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are starting to emerge from the frozen earth, and the sound of birds chirping (a most certain sign of spring) is starting to pierce the silence of still mornings.  A light has begun to shine and with it, an urge within us, to become one with the earth. 
     Communing with nature is a very natural and necessary instinct.  We all share it, perhaps, only, in differing degrees.  Some people enjoy participating in all kinds of outdoor activities, such as camping, fishing, hiking, boating or biking.  Others enjoy engaging in sports, such as tennis, swimming, volleyball and baseball.  Whatever speaks to you, there is a place for everyone: an outlet for creative juices to flow and excess energy to be expended.  Nature has a wonderful way of grounding us and helping us to realize our potential.  It can inspire us to try new things or to cultivate skills and interests we already possess.
     There is a peace and a serenity that come with being in nature.  The beauty the earth holds speaks to the beauty within each one of us.  We become kindred spirits with the flowers, the birds, the clouds and the sunshine.  The rainfall refreshes our outlook on life and living.  There is a constant reminder of the cycle of life, and how we each fit into this master plan.  We are reminded, too, of the fragility and the strength of life, through the unique and glorious qualities that inhabit our surroundings.  It is this awareness that brings us a feeling of being one with nature.
     When communing with nature, we can gain greater insight into the things we are dealing with.  Observing insects, tending to a garden, noticing the changes that are continually taking place in our environment are just some ways to make us pause, take a deep breath and become quiet and centered enough to tune into our own internal atmosphere.  The tranquility and the vitality nature offers is rejuvenating, on many levels.  It affects our minds, bodies and spirits.  Nature provides us with endless opportunities to nurture ourselves, and all living things.  In doing so, we become renewed in our convictions, in our resolve and in our ability to live life to a fuller degree.