When you just need some peace: self harm isn't what most people think it is

Nature is beatiful

No one really stops to think about what is around them. The nature around them. We only think of the bad and drama. We need to go outside more often. We just need to look around and put down the technology and appreciate nature the way it is. Walk, hop, skip, run, jog, skate, board, bike, whatever to the nearest shopping center or gas station or park and bring a couple dollars and just appreciate life. This is a real scene from behind my neighborhood.

As I sit by the stream, I hear the water dripping and rushing over the rocks. I hear the birds sing or chirp. They sound as if they are saying work it over and over. I see the mosquitoes surrounding me like the brown of a raccoon, only avoiding the eyes. I see the rocks with algae growing on them in the water. I see trees taller than the houses they surround, some small enough for me to wrap my hands around, some too big for my arms. I see the dirt that allows the bugs and animals to blend in. I see broken tree stumps and logs hanging over the water. I see flowers no bigger than the size of my thumb nail and no taller than my finger, and they are a bright, majestic purple. I see a leaf fall into the water from above, swirling down to the wet scene below and create ripples on the surface. I hear the cars whoosh by blaring their music and thumping their bass, disturbing the atmosphere. I see the little waves in the green water that disturb the reflection of the threes and sky above. It is open and bright with the sun flowing between the trees' limbs. I see bright green leaves, marking the beginning of spring. I see dead branches on the ground from the harsh cold of winter. I can see the bugs crawling on the ground and the birds and squirrels in the trees. A bright red cardinal, more red than a fire truck, fly from behind me and sit on a branch in front of me while we stare at each other. I lay back and watch it fly away in reaction to me laying down. I watch a very light brown bird land in a nest above my newly placed head. I see huge, stiff, black feathers from a crow lying on the ground next to little puffy white feathers. I then notice the destruction of our plastic items in the natural environment. I see gator aid bottles and chair legs and trash bags tied onto branches. I see birds picking at the black plastic bag. I lie down on a huge rock by the stream. I take off my shoes and roll up my pants to above my knees. I walk into the water and smile as the cold makes me shiver. I stand in one place and feel the rush of energy the water carries. I am one with the fish in the water, with the mosquitoes above the earth, with the birds that chirp in the trees around me, with nature.

This is the world that we miss when we are in a bathroom splitting our nature-made skin with something human-made. This is the natural world we miss out on when we lock ourselves in our room and blast music. Even when we go outside, we don't hear or appreciate what we see and hear and feel. Think about this the next time you want to use a man-made object on a nature-made beauty.