Of Mind and Tumbleweeds

I should meditate more than I do. And while I am well-versed in meditative practices, too often the allure of naps and television are irresistible. I should meditate more than I do because I prefer calm to commotion, silence to noise, and quiet to loud. More to the point: I seek stillness and know meditation settles the mind. So I do it, begrudgingly at times, and benefit. More often than not, however, I seek stillness not through meditation but through forays into nature.  Meditation is a process that turns the Mind inward; it places the Self at the center of a process that seeks stillness by settling the turbulence of the Mind.  I prefer to seek stillness through a process that puts the Self in context to the World, our elemental home--Nature.  Nature is a scarce commodity in cities and towns, and, as the documented growth of metropolitan centers continues, an unfortunate byproduct is that the divide grows between the Self, the World, a...