POSTCARD: Embracing Stillness and Finding Clarity in Nature

 "Be the person your dog thinks you are."

- J.W. Stevens

Man's best friend observes our surroundings. Always vigilant!

I took this photo about two months after returning from deployment. For over 330 days, I had been living in a world far removed from family and friends, constantly operating at full speed. Even after coming home, I still felt the urge to keep moving, to stay busy.

Fortunately, I have an 8,000-acre state park right outside my door. It became my escape, a place where I could take our two overly affectionate dogs for a walk. Those walks helped me transition back from the chaos of deployment.

This image, I think, captures what I was searching for. It marked the moment when I was finally able to embrace stillness. I didn’t need to keep moving at 100mph to feel productive. Allowing myself the space to be still gave me the chance to reset, and being in nature with my dogs helped me find clarity. That clarity gave me the perspective I needed to face challenges, embrace new opportunities, and plan a path forward.

Maybe our dogs know what we need better than we do.

Navigate over to our related Postcard Series posts at:

• Postcard: Livadh Lake Sharr Mountain Range
  
• Postcard Old Bazaar Skopje Northern Macedonia
  

To see more photos in this series, navigate over to Navigate To Your Adventure on Flickr.