This is Fruitycake The Raccoon. Oh, the forest. The woods. The trees. The birds. They are all a bit overwhelming to me. They are all a bit new to me. And I can’t put my paws on it. But the peace of it all makes me nervous.
It makes me uncomfortable. The peace makes me wonder where my place in the world really is.
The persons and Brickle can’t fully understand why hiking in all of these beautiful places makes feel aware of my limitations and how much I have to learn. Even the feel of the wet grass and the mud is new to me. Sure. These things may be familiar to them. But to me, it’s a new world. I was a stray in a city with lots of concrete. And all I knew was traffic and loud noises and construction and honking horns. My world was noisy and rushed. My world was harsh. But I didn’t have to concentrate on anything but surviving. And when you have the time to focus on yourself, sometimes, I am finding that harder.
There are lots of things to distract us from working on ourselves. There are lots of things to distract us from learning and contemplating. It’s when we step back and hear the peace and quiet, that may be the scariest time of all. Because we have to face ourselves.
I’m learning to take the peace and quiet of the forest slow. I’m letting it talk to me in whispers and I am stepping lightly. As I get to know it, I’ll be more open to big discussions and reflection. There is no rush. I only have me to answer to. And I’ll get it. If I could survive the harsh world I was in, I can surely travel into the beautiful one. You can too.
–Fruitycake The Raccoon
