A few months back, I had the unique opportunity to be out by myself in nature. It used to be common but with two young kids, a husband, a dog and a busy life, my nature time lately is wonderful but rarely a solo event. One beautiful Saturday afternoon I found myself with a few hours to spare in the mountains of Wyoming. The area was blanketed with fresh snow and was just waiting to be explored. I slapped on my snow shoes and headed off into unbroken, untracked snow. What an exhilarating feeling to be the first to leave footprints.

Being in nature alone is such a great opportunity for me to get settled into myself – get grounded, get reattached. As usually happens with me, the first 30 minutes of my adventure were filled with thoughts of tasks I need to do –what I should cook for dinner tonight, what time the dog’s vet appointment is tomorrow, and on and on. I have learned it is useless for me to fight all of the chatter – I just accept that my brain has to go through a process of checking and rechecking tasks and THEN I can relax and move on to being present. And that’s when the best part of being in nature happens – at least for me.

Suddenly I am able to tune into everything going on around me. Being in a mountain forest just after a big snowfall is one of the best treats! It’s the peacefulness, calm and soft beauty, the contrast of white, white snow, green pine needles and the deep blue sky as the clouds roll out. It’s also the stillness and pervasive quiet that just puts me in another realm. Stopping to catch my breath, I realize I can’t hear another sound besides my heart beating in my ears. Once that subsides, it is totally, amazingly silent. There is nothing quite like that kind of silence – not oppressive, not scary but very peaceful and calming.

In that moment I feel gratitude that I have the opportunity and access to have this experience. But more than that, I feel grateful that I had the chance to be in nature at a formative stage in my life; that I spent time in nature as a child. I am convinced that those experiences laid the foundation for the way I feel about nature as an adult. That I feel comfortable in nature by myself and find peace in nature is undoubtedly connected to my early, positive experiences in nature. I work hard to provide similar positive experiences in nature for everyone who participates in a Global Explorers program. It is my hope that the Global Explorers experience will be one step toward all of our participants developing a lifelong appreciation for and comfort in nature.