Spring Flies By Like a Butterfly

Tammy Brown

Spring at Little Piney

Spring flies by like a butterfly–beautiful, colorful, swiftly gone.  I know it’s not over yet, but in the flurry of over-scheduled days away from Little Piney, I feel a sense of loss.  I didn’t have enough days with the Bluebonnets which are already going to seed, or with the Cedar Waxwings which are moving on for the summer.  I didn’t get good photographs of the egg-filled nests where baby birds have hatched and will soon fledge.  The flock of Blue-winged Teals and one American Coot will probable leave this week.  These thoughts are enough to affect my mood and make me a grumpy, distracted companion at all of the other important events happening in my life.

Here’s where I have to practice what I preach in my role as a psychotherapist (yes, that’s my “real” job)!  I have to practice Mindfulness.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is all about being in the moment–setting aside regret and rumination (the past) and anxiety and worry (the future) to fully experience and appreciate the present.  Mindfulness is a well-supported treatment in the therapy world for anxiety and depression often in conjunction with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or other models.  Most of my clients find mindfulness practice very helpful in managing anxiety and discover that learning “to turn their minds” toward sensory experiences is calming and grounding.  I find a mindfulness practice helpful in my own life, and I recognize that mindfulness occurs spontaneously when I am at Little Piney surrounded by nature, or when I’m 100% lost in my art work.

Notes to Self

  • Worrying has never  changed an outcome.
  • Anxiety steals joy from the present moment.
  • Regret can’t redo the past.
  • All moments are precious wherever you are.
  • Most things that we miss come around again; if they don’t something else wonderful does.
  • We never finish our to-do lists– relationship care, reading, chores, phone calls, errands, personal care, etc. never end.  Better to accept that than fight it.
  • Embracing imperfection is a much healthier goal than expecting perfection.

    Baby Birds

    Chickadee Hatchlings
    More Chickadee Eggs
    Eastern Bluebird Eggs
    Baby Chickadees
    Carolina Chickadee Eggs

     

    Spring Flowers

    Toadflax
    Groundsel
    Baby Blue Eyes
    Creme Wild Indigo

     

    Birds and Skies

    Groundsel

    New Paintings

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