Thought for today:
"Nature forged, Nature crafted and Nature real; all three aspects of Nature can astound and make one marvel, but remains wonderful in whatever form it is presented. Nature is a spirit that is formless and free. It often hides itself, is sometimes overcome but is never extinguished.
The top LH corner shows the Tunnel Falls in Oregon along the Eagle Creek Trail. It is an epic 13-mile one-way trail; one way because passing is impossible coming from opposite directions.
In the top RH corner, we can see the decorative and collage work created by the world-famous body painter, Johannes Stotter where five women models are made to look like one amphibian.
The bottom image is a stunning valley of flowers from northern India's state of Uttarakhand which borders the Nepal and Tibet.
Ever since I was unable to walk for a number of years after a childhood accident, Nature became an essential ingredient of my daily life as I gazed through my bedroom window. When eventually I regained the use of my legs, I would walk to a local wood daily and relax beneath a large oak tree in its centre. This favourite place of mine became a sanctuary for me. Whenever I entered the wood, I was aware that I entered a sacred place, my Sanctum sanctorum. As soon as I embraced the trunk of a tree, smelled the rich aroma of the forest fern, felt the coolness of the woodland stream as I allowed the flowing water passage through my fingers, and heard the song of the birds or the sounds of other woodland creatures, I knew that place possessed the marrow of all life. Since those precious years when I took 'time out' from the hustle and bustle of life enforced upon me by restricted mobility, Nature and its country fields, hedgerows, meadow streams and woodlands became my real world.
When I became a father in later years, rarely one weekend passed by without me taking my children for a walk and play in Hopton Woods. During these weekly walks I would try to impress on them we are made up of much more than ourselves; much more than mere flesh and bone. Mankind has never been of himself/herself only. He/she is all they see and all that flows to them from a thousand natural sources. He/she is the land, the lift of its mountain lines, the reach of its valleys, the depth of its seas; we inter-breath with the rainforest and we drink from the oceans. Taking my children into the classroom of the woods turned their immediate wonder into lifelong wisdom. I remember telling my children, James, Adam, William and Rebecca that to hold a seed of the ground was to hold infinity in the palm of one's hand. Taking the children on their weekly walks to Hopton Woods throughout the four seasons of the year was not only educational and exciting for them, but it provided myself with an inner peace that passed all understanding. These woodland journeys reminded me of Albert Einstein's belief that 'if one looked deep into Nature, all would be understood'.
As the great Shakespear himself said, ' One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin'. Since my early teens and my regular daily journey to Bluebell Wood where I would relax beneath the tall branches of an oak tree at its woodland centre, I have always believed that our deepest roots lie with Nature. No matter who we are where we were born, whatever our circumstances or what kind of life we live, we remain irrevocably linked with Nature and the birth of creation.
My daily relaxation beneath the large oak tree in Bluebell Wood was to form the central image for a professionally produced relaxation tape I was to produce in the 1970s entitled 'Relax with Bill'. I was once offered many thousands of pounds to sell this tape for market production but refused; preferring instead to give away many thousands of copies of it to stressful people over the past forty years. This tape has never been sold and is freely accessed from my website by following the link http://www.fordefables.co.uk/relax-with-bill.html
Despite all the wonders of the world, created through time, art or effort, none can ever match the sheer bravery and beauty of a butterfly as it happily soars through its life oblivious to the mere knowledge that behind that next wall can lie a person hell-bent on capturing it and breaking its wings apart. And yet, knowing the risk it takes, this creature of freedom still flies towards the next wall. Those who have been hurt through giving love unreturned take heart and heed from the butterfly whom despite the brevity of its life on earth dares to fly." William Forde: August 17th, 2018.
"Nature forged, Nature crafted and Nature real; all three aspects of Nature can astound and make one marvel, but remains wonderful in whatever form it is presented. Nature is a spirit that is formless and free. It often hides itself, is sometimes overcome but is never extinguished.
The top LH corner shows the Tunnel Falls in Oregon along the Eagle Creek Trail. It is an epic 13-mile one-way trail; one way because passing is impossible coming from opposite directions.
In the top RH corner, we can see the decorative and collage work created by the world-famous body painter, Johannes Stotter where five women models are made to look like one amphibian.
The bottom image is a stunning valley of flowers from northern India's state of Uttarakhand which borders the Nepal and Tibet.
Ever since I was unable to walk for a number of years after a childhood accident, Nature became an essential ingredient of my daily life as I gazed through my bedroom window. When eventually I regained the use of my legs, I would walk to a local wood daily and relax beneath a large oak tree in its centre. This favourite place of mine became a sanctuary for me. Whenever I entered the wood, I was aware that I entered a sacred place, my Sanctum sanctorum. As soon as I embraced the trunk of a tree, smelled the rich aroma of the forest fern, felt the coolness of the woodland stream as I allowed the flowing water passage through my fingers, and heard the song of the birds or the sounds of other woodland creatures, I knew that place possessed the marrow of all life. Since those precious years when I took 'time out' from the hustle and bustle of life enforced upon me by restricted mobility, Nature and its country fields, hedgerows, meadow streams and woodlands became my real world.
When I became a father in later years, rarely one weekend passed by without me taking my children for a walk and play in Hopton Woods. During these weekly walks I would try to impress on them we are made up of much more than ourselves; much more than mere flesh and bone. Mankind has never been of himself/herself only. He/she is all they see and all that flows to them from a thousand natural sources. He/she is the land, the lift of its mountain lines, the reach of its valleys, the depth of its seas; we inter-breath with the rainforest and we drink from the oceans. Taking my children into the classroom of the woods turned their immediate wonder into lifelong wisdom. I remember telling my children, James, Adam, William and Rebecca that to hold a seed of the ground was to hold infinity in the palm of one's hand. Taking the children on their weekly walks to Hopton Woods throughout the four seasons of the year was not only educational and exciting for them, but it provided myself with an inner peace that passed all understanding. These woodland journeys reminded me of Albert Einstein's belief that 'if one looked deep into Nature, all would be understood'.
As the great Shakespear himself said, ' One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin'. Since my early teens and my regular daily journey to Bluebell Wood where I would relax beneath the tall branches of an oak tree at its woodland centre, I have always believed that our deepest roots lie with Nature. No matter who we are where we were born, whatever our circumstances or what kind of life we live, we remain irrevocably linked with Nature and the birth of creation.
My daily relaxation beneath the large oak tree in Bluebell Wood was to form the central image for a professionally produced relaxation tape I was to produce in the 1970s entitled 'Relax with Bill'. I was once offered many thousands of pounds to sell this tape for market production but refused; preferring instead to give away many thousands of copies of it to stressful people over the past forty years. This tape has never been sold and is freely accessed from my website by following the link http://www.fordefables.co.uk/relax-with-bill.html
Despite all the wonders of the world, created through time, art or effort, none can ever match the sheer bravery and beauty of a butterfly as it happily soars through its life oblivious to the mere knowledge that behind that next wall can lie a person hell-bent on capturing it and breaking its wings apart. And yet, knowing the risk it takes, this creature of freedom still flies towards the next wall. Those who have been hurt through giving love unreturned take heart and heed from the butterfly whom despite the brevity of its life on earth dares to fly." William Forde: August 17th, 2018.
