The healthy forager

This blog post does not have pictures. Instead, what I’m going to try to do is conjure up a picture in your head. A picture of what ‘happiness’ means to me. So, read it slowly, and try to imagine what it would be like. Some of the things I describe may not be your thing – but try to imagine them anyway.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin…

It’s Saturday morning. You wake up after 9 hours of deep sleep. Before you went to bed you had Pineappleweed and chaga tea and you’re so grateful to yourself that you drank that, and not a whisky nightcap. Your body feels fully rested. Nothing hurts. Your head is clear. You are keen to get up and go outside. You have energy.

For breakfast you eat the cherries you picked yesterday. Large, shiny and sweet. Together with a chunk of bread that is earthy, rich and has a crackly crust. You don’t even put anything on it, because it doesn’t need it.

You set off on your bike (gently, because we do have a hernia!) and you breathe in the refreshing scent of morning. The sky is overcast, but the air is soft and the wind is in your back. Nothing hurts and you’re grateful for the ability to ride your bike despite your injury. You enjoy the feeling of your quads working. You sing out loud.

You get to the river and there is nobody around. The water looks inviting. You strip off and slide in. The water is cool and it goes right to your core. Your skin and your senses are fully alive.

Using only your arms and keeping your legs folded behind you, face-down, you slowly swim across to the other side. Underneath you, the landscape changes. Sand, stones, rock formations. Canyons, cliffs, underwater beaches. Then the fish appear. Young salmon the same colours as the stones. They are not afraid of you. You swim together, you follow their paths around the rocks. You no longer feel the cold. You feel you belong here.

Coming out, you rub your skin until it is red. Dry clothes feel like an embrace. You drink large mouthfuls of warm tea and you feel it spread throughout you.

Back on your bike you ride on for a few miles, when you find a line of cherry trees. Heavily loaded with black and red fruit. You stand underneath them. The cherries are large. As you grasp one, you feel how cool they are and how perfectly they fit into the palm of your hand. Each turn of the branch reveals more. You eat them straight from the tree until your fingers and your face are purple with stains.

You pick some more, to share with your love. You imagine the look on his face. You are excited.

Cycling back home via a different route, along country lanes lined with raspberries. There are more than you could ever eat. The wind is in your face now, but it doesn’t matter. You feel strong. The bounty all around you makes your heart swell with happiness – your heart sings.

This is what happiness feels to me. A state where I’m one with nature – on it, in it, and it in me. A sense of deep gratitude for being alive today.