Do You Need to Get Back to Nature?

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I spent 6 weeks in remote Costa Rica a few years ago.

My wife and I lived in a glorified hut with no electricity, no running water, an out house and of course, no internet. We lived 3 miles deep into the jungle. Hiking time in and out of town; about 3 hours, 4 on a rough, muddy, rainy day. Provisions secured every Friday, along with 1 day spent in town.

But for 6 days each week, we lived in nature.

Peep the view from where we lived:

Not a tourist spot, folks. Even the locals laughed at us when we told them where we lived; virtually all Ticos lived in town with electricity, plumbing and internet access.

This proved to be the most enlightening and uncomfortable 6 week stretch of my life. Nature forces you into your fears; uncomfortable. Nature teaches you who you really are through its perfection; enlightening.

The split second I arrived, I noted my wife's assertion how nature emits a stable vibe. No ego. No judging. No manipulative fears. No poverty. No scarcity. No limits.

Everything flows effortlessly, in lock step, like a puzzle perfectly fitting, proceeding according to perfect plan.

Army Ants

5000 to 10,000 army ants swept through the hut for roughly 12 hours once. The army systemically reduced the scorpion, wasp larvae and centipede population in and around the hut. I never stepped on one nor killed one because my mindfulness combined with the ant's Infinite Intelligence to avoid this huge living presence – me – let no ant deaths unfold in my vicinity.

I did not even walk gingerly; I took a normal step and the ants instantly formed an outline a few inches away from my foot. Awe-inspiring, how the living mass knew what to do, as one.

The army ants swept through west to east during a 12 hour stretch and swept back east to west 3 days later to finish up any scraps. Perfect.

Get Back to Nature

Go for a walk in nature. Observe a tree. Trees fear not the economy, news cycles or politicians. Trees do not struggle to survive. Trees just be trees, effortlessly.

Spend more time in nature to see you are more like the tree – a being, living presence living in harmony with nature, a part of the perfect whole – and not like fear spread from human to human, via news, gossip and general malaise.

Being around humans tends to influence you to live from fear, scarcity, division, struggle and fight. Being around nature – with no humans around – teaches you perfection, precision, love, abundance, one-ness, ease and harmony.

But being around nature also tends to trigger deep fears if you step fully into nature and leave humanity behind. Face, feel and release these fears to become more liberated from the insidious grasp of this illusion.

Fear Test

Rain pounded the hut for 2 days straight. Some tiny pockets in the general vicinity get 10 feet to 20 feet of rain a year.

Our water supply – fresh mountain water hosed-piped in from a jungle stream – became layered with silt. We were warned not to drink it; sickness would ensue.

I trudged hundreds of meters up the mountain to jiggle the hose in order to loosen the silt and freshen up our water supply. Was I scared? Hell yeah! I had to wade through fer de lanz infested waters – the most aggressive viper on earth – in a torrential downpour, with a crocodile encounter being a distinct possibility, too.

But I had no choice. I either did it or we'd become dehydrated.

I passed the fear test by jiggling the hose and purifying our water supply, being 100% dependent on my heart, skills, and trust, in a natural, remote, jungle setting.

Most of my worldly fears had fully dissolved by the time I returned back to the world after the 6 week stretch.

Nature wins again!