Renewing our connection with nature

I’ve spent so much time in the city recently, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be in the countryside.

In fact, most of my life has been in city dwellings. It’s a little ironic, because my ancestral history has been from a village in rural Sylhet.

There’s something about being away from people, noise and organisations. When we spend so much time in the busy rush, we forget that such things aren’t a definitive fact. We did not always exist surrounded by thousands and thousands of people. In fact, for most of human history we have spent time in relatively small settlements.

It feels a lot easier to think openly and creatively. Part of me feels like going on a large productive rush of writing and creation. It feels a lot simpler when there are far less distractions.

But I realised that going down this path would also probably not be the best for me. The harder, yet more rewarding path is to detoxify myself from the sense of required productivity.

It’s been surprisingly hard to simply sit with no real plans for a few days. It gives space, which can actually be very difficult to know what to do with.

I’ve been holding a heightened level of anxiety in my body for a while now. And whilst I’d love to say that being out in nature would simply ‘fix it’, that’s not really been the case. I’ve been doing a number of things which can help: I’ve dipped in cold water each morning for the last few days and briefly went into the sea.

Yet I am still often waking up in the middle of the night with a tightened chest. It’s been an extra level of challenging because there isn’t an obvious explanation of ‘why’. I am already doing most of the usual recommended remedies – exercising, eating healthy and resting. I hope this will help with time, though I admit that I am not sure whether things will change anytime soon, or whether I should be doing something differently.

Seeing my own vulnerability has been a humbling experience. Two years ago I was at the height of my active powers. I was juggling full time work with writing (including releasing my first book), a bunch of personal development programmes and an active life in Brussels.

Yet perhaps my current ebbing of energy was just how life was meant to be. Growth is also learning to focus ourselves. And perhaps the lesson is that spreading ourselves too thin will wear us out in the long run.

In the midst of the challenges, it’s important to recognise the achievements too. This article marks 3 years of consistent writing. I have now not missed a week since January 2022.

My aim has always been to share my experiences to help you with your own life journey.

And so it is with this energy I continue to write to you