Let The Moments Linger
A youthful looking man with a look of intelligence and sensibility approaches me, “Why bother” he bristles, “Why tell your stories, no-one will listen? This is what you should be talking about, this is what people want”. He thrust his phone into my vision with images of space and science fiction; “This is the future” he said. This came as a thunderbolt to me and I listen intensely to what he has to say. I then asked him if he had read any of my stories to which he hastily replied “none at all”. All the while I was aware of a growing cloud of dark disapproval as he revealed a world of books, downloads and virtual reality to be accessed without even stepping out of doors. It would seem he may have lost the wonders to which he was born, for the moods, beauty and the atmosphere of our great outdoors can be so intense it almost feels tangible. Over millennia humans have gazed over wonderful wild vistas, it’s what the body and soul needs, it’s what’s natural to us.
However, I believe we may have become separated by technology, each of us immersed in our own flickering screens, with the use of phones and ear pods, young and adults alike don’t always pay attention to where they are and to what’s unfolding around them.
I am inclined to wonder if people, especially the young are losing out as a result of all this new technology. I just wonder if the world of nature, of dens and make believe with wonderful adventures to be experienced through play and exploration that we associate with the mysterious yet beautiful world of growing up are being lost on our younger generation but I hope by reading my short stories it may touch many both young and old.
The beauty of our countryside has the power to not only help a person to self heal but also to develop a wonderful education of the heart, but moreover what will swiftly arouse and spread around will be the peace, joy and knowledge that surpasses all the art and wonders of the earth. You will then become aware of the intimate portraits of the common creatures, the ongoing dramas of the natural world, for it’s there for all to see and marvel at its wonder.
Although I may not know all the answers, I can simply say that by turning off your iPad, turning your imagination on and opening up your mind, you will become enveloped in peace and relish the incomparable pleasure of discovery of the natural world.
From a poverty of knowledge they will then understand the quintessence of grace and perhaps they too will let the moments linger.
Image: Annie Spratt on Unsplash
