Just Do It. Nature Won’t Always Wait

Sometimes, the simplest things can teach us the most wonderful lessons.

My latest ‘almost photo’ was a red campion flower, covered in tiny droplets of dew. It was a lovely sight, with the water catching the light and turning an ordinary little flower into something quite special.

 

 

But I took another photograph of the very same flower just 90 minutes later.

Almost all the dew had disappeared.

Nothing dramatic had happened. The morning had moved on, the sun was just a little higher, and although the conditions hadn’t really changed, it was enough for that little moment of magic to have passed.

It got me thinking about how often we wait for the perfect moment to do something.

We wait for better weather, more time, a free weekend or the right opportunity. We convince ourselves that we’ll get outside when the sun comes out, when we’re less busy or when we’ve got somewhere special to go.

But what if we stopped waiting?

Just do it

It’s an age-old phrase, usually associated with a rather different sort of activity, but I think there’s something in it when it comes to enjoying nature too.

You don’t need to travel somewhere spectacular, plan an expedition or even have a particular thing in mind that you want to see.

You just need to get outside.

Take a walk, step into the garden, wander around your local park or simply spend a few minutes noticing what’s happening around you.

You might see something wonderful. You might notice something you’ve walked past a hundred times before. You might not find anything that particularly catches your eye at all.

Finding nothing is fine too.

The point isn’t that you have to come home with a photograph, tick something off a list or achieve a particular goal. It’s about giving yourself the opportunity to enjoy whatever happens to be there. And if nothing catches your eye, that’s fine too. You can simply enjoy the time spent outside, taking in your surroundings.

Don’t wait for perfect

My daily nature photo challenge has taught me that nature doesn’t need to put on a spectacular show to be worth our attention.

Sometimes it’s a magnificent rainbow or a brilliant red toadstool. Other times, it’s a tiny drop of dew on a leaf, an ordinary flower or a familiar sight that makes me stop and look a little closer.

And sometimes, as with my red campion, you only have a short window to appreciate what’s in front of you.

Those two photographs, taken just 90 minutes apart, are a simple reminder that everything keeps changing.

So don’t wait for the perfect weather, the perfect day or the perfect opportunity.

Just do it.

Head outside, look around and see what you can discover.

You never quite know what might be out there, just waiting for you to discover it.

The same red campion, 90 minutes later.