An eerie glow illuminates most of the park. Bright moonlight reflecting off the gently flowing river, giving me enough light that I don’t bother with the torch that’s tucked away in my pocket. I, however, am sat below a canopy of silent tree’s plunged in darkness. I can feel the tiredness in my eyes as I squint to see where the dog has run off too. It’s 11pm on a Wednesday night and I’m here eating cold pasta from a lunchbox, waiting for enough time to pass that I can justify going home to bed. This was not how I imagined this challenge going.
I was scrolling through social media back in May when I saw a post about The Wildlife Trusts #30DaysWildChallenge. The concept of the challenge was to spend some time every day throughout the month outside, trying to reconnect with nature and appreciate it a little more.
It feels like every month this year I have started off my Everyday Adventure newsletter with some kind of acknowledgement that it has been a busy month. So when do multiple busy months just become a busy life? I thought the #30DaysWildChallenge would be a great way to try to slow down a little and make sure I was setting aside some time each day for myself. So I signed up.
I started the challenge well, each day finding a different way to get outside, and more often than not, noticing new things or learning about the wildlife that is local to me. I spent evenings photographing local wildlife, identifying bird calls, or learning about the different trees that grow in nearby nature reserves. I got back into outdoor swimming, and watched the sunset from my local hill. Things were going well for the first two weeks, and it felt like life was slowing down a little. The days were no longer blending into one big blur of busyness.
As the month progressed, things did not quite work out as planned. Long days at work left me with what felt like no time at all to fit in the challenge. Since I was documenting each day's activity on my socials, desperation took me to extreme lengths to find something to do. It was probably a warning sign that things were not working out as planned when I found myself sitting in that park one night at 11 p.m. eating my dinner and dreaming of my bed.
As I came into the final week of the challenge, it slipped away completely. I missed days altogether and felt like the challenge had been a failure. I still had things I wanted to do for the challenge, but I’d ticked off a lot of the easier ones and everything left on my list I just didn’t have the time or energy for.
The reality is that on those days I still spent time outdoors, just not doing something I thought was interesting enough to post online. Work was starting to burn me out a little, and when I got home, sometimes after more than thirteen or fourteen hours, I wanted nothing more than to just sit in my garden and read a book. I did not have the energy to think of something for the challenge, then spend an hour doing it and posting about it online, so I sank into the peacefulness of my garden, switching my brain off and just existing in quietness.
On reflection, it was the right thing to do. We are encouraged to spend time outdoors to help with both our physical and mental health, and for me, just sitting and not doing anything did exactly that. There was no phone. No distractions. Nothing keeping me busy. It was not quite the plan, but it was what I needed.
How do you spend time outdoors to help you relax and unwind? Comment below to let me know.
If you would like to check out each days wild activity in more detail you can find my daily posts on Instagram.
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