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God's peace
Monday, May 22, 2006
Peace comes not from altering your life but from altering your outlook; however, getting into a nature/health craze is helpful too :]. Somehow in the last month my eyes gained a great sensitivity to the shapes and colors of growing things and I contracted a restlessness that forces me outside as much as possible to be among those things. I don't remember how it happened but it really makes me feel better about myself and life in general.
From my house it's about two miles to downtown Naperville, and then there's another mile if you continue on the Riverwalk path until it ends. It's really the perfect jog and I've been doing it about twice a week with the hope that by the end of the summer, I'll be able to run the whole way without slowing down to a walk or killing myself ^^. I should have started this a long time ago. There's just no feeling like the burning in your lungs, your legs turning into rubber, waking up the next day all sore because you pushed yourself too hard once again :), and most importantly, being where the action is with the sunshiny trees and just-starting-to-bloom lilac bushes and cold May breeze. Because of last week's rain I also saw some of the most beautiful, deep blue skies ever, perhaps so because they were juxtaposed with thick grey storm clouds.
The farther you go down the Dupage river, the fewer people there are and the fairer your surroundings become. At one point, there's a tree growing almost horizontally over the river and I like to stop there and sit over the water for 30-60 min to meditate (i.e. slow breathing exercises) and soak in as much as possible of everything - like the way the sun filters through the leaves onto the water creating sparkles and morphing patterns of light and the way these patterns reflect back up onto the branches overhead. I love the feeling of just breathing and observing and not really thinking about anything; it's the most relaxed I've ever been. Generally more than 15 minutes will pass before somebody walks by, which is interesting considering how extremely crowded it always is in the section of the walk nearer to downtown.
Yet farther down the path, there is actually a small forest preserve complete with signs identifying the native plants :D.
The other side of the river is my favorite part. The first time I explored it, I was disappointed to see the red brick path ending at the edge of the trees until I noticed a little dirt trail stemming off to the right. The trail continues all the way, and is basically through the trees of a bunch of people's backyards until those end and you find yourself in a thick wood. If you keep walking, you'll come upon a mysterious series of what first appeared to be sacrificial altars but what I now think are actually home-made bike ramps. They make me grin every time I seem them just because of how weird and awesome it all is, and I really hope that someday I'll be able to catch somebody doing her thing on those ramps.
Some meager photos :P
It kind of makes me think of the Amazon river <3
Violets grow wild here. Butterfly shaped :D
My flower pics generally turn out blurry and dumb on my dinky camera T___T
I love bluebells...
My tree :D
One of the bike ramp things
Another one. I have more pics of these but I don't want to spoil it all in case any of you want to come out here with me and see it for real :D. I could use a running partner too.
Besides this I've been doing a lot of biking again. We have amazingly good bike trails right in Lisle, and if you keep going you end up visiting a lot of ponds and parks. One area had a really nice gazebo - sitting in there with all the serene beauty outside reminded me of the circular temple I once visited in Beijing ^.^.
There's also this game I got for PS2, Eyetoy: Kinetic. It's a fitness game developed by Nike which takes you through routines based on different kinds of workout styles, like aerobics, dance, kick-boxing, tai chi; they even have a meditation sequence. SO FUN XD...
Another note on health; I decided to become a vegetarian two weeks ago - it started as a test of will power, and then I discovered that I could totally do it and that I loved it ;D. I think all these health things are connected because with the increase in exercising, I discovered that junk food doesn't appeal anymore and it's a lot easier to go to bed and get up earlier.
This all came at a good time because in the more business portion of my life, there's a lot that's been getting me down. I'm really grateful for my friend David. A month ago, we had an IM conversation about going on solo retreats in the wilderness to think over life, and he closed with saying, "I will pray that if the Lord wants you to get that retreat, He will provide the right plan."
I like to think that at that point, God decided that He would introduce me to the mindblowingly wonderful retreat I could find within the three-mile radius of my house :).
Done for Mother's Day ^^
