Life is full of roller coasters, ups and downs, good and bad times. When life gets hard or painful, we usually long for some kind of assurance that everything is going to be ok. Something that tells us, "I know life is hard and painful right now, but you are going to get through this."
I have one of my photos hanging in my living room of Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe that I find myself gazing at often. It features a couple of ducks gliding across the peaceful, calm water with snow capped mountains in the distance. The more difficult life is at the moment, the more time I seem to spend sitting there staring at it. It has become some kind of a ritual for me, in the morning I sit with my coffee, reflecting on the current trials of life while I look at these ducks that doesn't seem to have any trouble at all. While the peace and calm of the water can't help but make me feel the same internally. There is a form of centering or perspective shifting that takes place, and I am all the better for it.
When I think about my relation with this piece I have in my living room, it makes me wonder - isn't this what keeps us coming back to nature? Why we love to decorate our homes and workplace with it? Make it the background on our computers, phones, and televisions? It's like a great exhale that puts us more at ease and less stressed. There is something about a beautiful sunset, majestic waterfall, snow capped mountains, or a calm body of water that gives us that assurance we are looking for. No matter how difficult life is at the moment, we are going to be ok.