Tattooing Your Memory

I don't know if you're like me, but...

Sometimes, I feel nostalgic.

I look at today's world and feel a little pang in my heart.

Because there are more and more shopping centers and fewer and fewer woodlands.

Because children can no longer play outside as simply as before without risking triggering an Amber alert.

Because certain trends explode and we follow them without really wondering if they truly meet our needs.

Because this connection with the living world is often oriented toward the need to "do-something-extraordinary-to-prove-to-others-how-fantastic-our-life-is" rather than a need for natural connection.

Because we can no longer lose our cool without having to go to therapy.

Because we can no longer laugh at the ridiculous without having to hire a lawyer to explain ourselves.

Because we feel more and more the need to plan, organize, and account for all our efforts to feel satisfied.

Because idleness is less and less tolerated and spontaneity is disappearing.

Because we increasingly need artifices to feel alive.

Yet, I still remember as if it were yesterday...

Memories so real

Those summer days we spent on the beach chasing tadpoles and minnows, without wondering if we had put on enough sunscreen.

Those bike expeditions where we would get lost in the woods, oblivious to the fact that mosquitoes could transmit diseases to us.

Those spontaneous jumps from the top of a rocky cliff into the tumultuous waters of the river, just because someone dared us to do it.

Those somewhat creepy caves we would explore secretly in the evening with our flashlights taped to our caps and about which we would invent all sorts of morbid stories.

Those evenings singing together around the fire in a harmony that wasn't compromised by a smartphone.

Those branch huts, blanket tents and snow shelters that became our secret hideouts and not an argument to get liked by people we don't really know on social media.

Climbing that big oak tree that dominated the hill and offered us a breathtaking view of our neighborhood, without having to resort to Google Earth assistance.

Those dizzying sled rides where we zigzagged between the forest trees without the idea of wearing a helmet ever crossing our minds.

Senses awakened

I remember everything.

The smell and texture of the earth, the fury of the wind, the freshness of the rain and the dance of fire.

Yet, sometimes I still get bored.

Maybe because, too often, I try to replay the scenario of my happy memories instead of creating new ones.

Or because the more places I visit, the more expectations I have.

How boring life becomes when we start comparing, when everything becomes predictable and we seek happiness in another place, another time.

So, when I overthink too much, I put on my hiking shoes and head for the woods.

Because nature makes everything simpler.

No more need to rush.

To hell with what others think.

Because when I'm alone in the woods, I have no one to impress.

I move in nature for the simple pleasure of feeling a more intense connection with the place I come from.

To test the limits of my organic machine.

To become aware of my harmful habits and the thoughts that limit me.

To take risks, become carefree again and marvel anew at the beauties of existence.

So that nature puts me back in my place in the grand tableau of life.

To find inspiration and create the life I've always dreamed of.

To tattoo my memory with eternal memories.