During my life I have often suffered from brief bouts of depression. I have been very lucky that none of these periods have lasted for very long. However, when they hit they did give me a very good understanding of how people could get caught up into negative thinking and easily drop into depression. During these times I have found that nature can be a great teacher.
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When I felt low I would walk in the rainforest that my husband and I had been instrumental in planting twenty years ago. The trees now are quite large and it feels like a well established forest even though it is not very old. It is a quiet and serene place to walk and feels very supportive.
I would also gain a comforting sense of life from the birds – watching them going about their daily lives seemed to give me comfort in my own. Butterflies and other animals often helped me to lift my heavy mood. But by far the most symbolic were the clouds. The skies helped me to see what I was doing when I allowed myself to stay in my depression. The sky is always there and the sun is always there, clouds come and cover the sky and obscure the sun, but NEVER does the sun itself disappear.
It seemed to me that my negative thoughts and feelings were like the clouds. As I allowed myself to sink further and further into negativity, it was like a storm building in the sky – the clouds building up and gradually covering the blue sky and the sun, and darkening the whole Earth until there was no sky or sun visible. This is how it felt to me when I was depressed – I had shut myself off from the light. I can absolutely see that people can get to this stage and feel very negative about life to the point of suicide.
But I could also see how the wind blows the clouds away so that gradually, a ray of sun would break through, a tiny bit of blue would appear. This would be analogous with how my thoughts would gradually become more positive and I would begin to realise that I was the one shutting the sun out, shutting out from my life the joy and love that makes life so joyful.
Inevitably there comes a time when the sun shines in a clear sky with maybe a few angel wing clouds visible and this always made me see how it was I who was shutting out the blue and the light, when in reality it has always been there, and the joy and love is always there – it is simply me who is shutting it out. So in reality it is up to me to catch those negative thoughts before they can become large clouds, it is up to me to keep my sky clear and let the sun shine through with the joy and love that is the true fabric of life.
Rowena P, Australia
I would also gain a comforting sense of life from the birds – watching them going about their daily lives seemed to give me comfort in my own. Butterflies and other animals often helped me to lift my heavy mood. But by far the most symbolic were the clouds. The skies helped me to see what I was doing when I allowed myself to stay in my depression. The sky is always there and the sun is always there, clouds come and cover the sky and obscure the sun, but NEVER does the sun itself disappear.
It seemed to me that my negative thoughts and feelings were like the clouds. As I allowed myself to sink further and further into negativity, it was like a storm building in the sky – the clouds building up and gradually covering the blue sky and the sun, and darkening the whole Earth until there was no sky or sun visible. This is how it felt to me when I was depressed – I had shut myself off from the light. I can absolutely see that people can get to this stage and feel very negative about life to the point of suicide.
But I could also see how the wind blows the clouds away so that gradually, a ray of sun would break through, a tiny bit of blue would appear. This would be analogous with how my thoughts would gradually become more positive and I would begin to realise that I was the one shutting the sun out, shutting out from my life the joy and love that makes life so joyful.
Inevitably there comes a time when the sun shines in a clear sky with maybe a few angel wing clouds visible and this always made me see how it was I who was shutting out the blue and the light, when in reality it has always been there, and the joy and love is always there – it is simply me who is shutting it out. So in reality it is up to me to catch those negative thoughts before they can become large clouds, it is up to me to keep my sky clear and let the sun shine through with the joy and love that is the true fabric of life.
Rowena P, Australia