Solving a quandary, Reboot Style

Have you ever been faced with a quandary?  A perplexing set of circumstances that need to be resolved with no solution forthcoming?  It can drive you mad, rattling around inside your head as you pursue one angle, then another, until logical thought processes become so jumbled up you have nothing left but a tangle. At times like this you have to abandon your logical self and let greater forces have a go at it.

What greater force to clear your jumbled mind than nature herself?

I was not far from a park that has a spot that I have used regularly over the years to think, mull, solve problems or just be inspired.  I found my thinking bench, sat back, and just watched the trees for a while. This bench overlooks a beautiful hollow with a nice creek at the bottom and an endless variety of trees and flowers and birds.  At first you just have green trees.  Then your mind relaxes and other things start to pop up you did not notice before.  A slight movement, or an interesting sound.  You feel the breeze, and occasionally a colorful tree or splotch of wildflowers you have not noticed suddenly comes into focus. You wait for the answer.

I sat there quietly letting my mind drift.  The late afternoon sun brightened as the clouds slowly dissipated, and the forest took on a sharp clarity from the low angle sun.

"We will always be there."  A message from the trees, almost as if a voice had spoken it.  In my mind I rolled this around.  What does this mean?

"No matter what happens, we will always be there.  When you come back in 10 years, no matter what decisions you have made and whatever consequences you have lived, you can come back to this spot and enjoy this kind of moment.  Nothing can take that away from you."

Talkative trees.  But they were not the only thing passing a message and this time the message was real and you would have heard it too, if you were sitting beside me on the bench.  You would have heard laughing.  Gentle, musical laughing.  Like kids in a playground having fun.  It was the sound of the stream below, echoing up between the valley walls reminding me to laugh. 

I leaned back and drifted away for a while... until a loud noise across the way broke my reverie and I snapped to, senses alert.  The trees were trees, the creek sounded like water, and the path to my left became something to analyze step by step as I stood up to return to walking.  The spell was broken,  though I was relaxed and calm.

I walked along wondering what these messages meant and how in the world these obscure references could aid me in my real-life decision making.  I had a place to go to center myself and a suggestion to laugh.  Not much practical use.

 I guess the forest noticed that I was not getting it.

I turned a corner and heard crashing noises in the bushes.  I peered into a clearing to see two squirrels playing chase.  Around and up and down, leaping across the grass;  playing like only animals can play on a warm, sunny, Sunday evening.  About 20 yards down the path I hear more crashing and see more squirrels bounding about.  Again they were playing, just having fun running about and crashing through the bushes.  I passed this ruckus and headed down a hill.  I hike a lot and rarely see animals.  Two encounters like this was exceptional! At the bottom of the hill I came across two more squirrels just leaping and bounding and chasing one another.  Fairly convinced these were not all the same squirrels, I was thrilled to see so much happiness.  The sun had come out and the walking was easy, and as I headed away from the squirrel-zone I had one more word pop into my head:  Play.

Now I have something to work with.  Perhaps.  The things you need will always be there.  Laugh.  And Play.  As a writer I played with the word order to arrange some kind of coherent thought.  The talkative trees were a bit harder to pin down but I got the gist of it.

Remember to laugh, take time to play, and whatever happens you can still come back to that beautiful spot and reset.  Or reboot.  Because nothing can keep you away.

Did all of this help me with my quandary?  Not one bit.  No voice boomed down from a cloud with step by step instructions.  No magical beings appeared from a mist and offered up sage advice.  I guess I am on my own to come up with my own practical solutions.  But I can be thankful:  I have an approach ... Play.  I have a stress reliever ... Laugh.  I have a solid place to land when life gets into a turmoil, with my talkative trees.

About now the curious person would be wondering about the nature of this quandary and the reason why I was in need of a special place to think.  Rest assured that the choices I have are about joy and defining who I am and what makes me happy.  Earlier that day I had spent time looking for words.  Turns out I was also looking for a squirrel ... who found me to teach me to play.  Now I recognize the irony ... what I am looking for is also looking for me.  Stop seeking and start seeing ... laugh and play, and whatever the final outcome I will end up where I want to be.