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Park Reflections
Letting nature speak to me…
In her Substack, Necessary Salt, author Joy Sullivan posts writing prompts each month for her paid subscribers. This month’s assignment was to visit someplace where we are not the dominant species and record our observations. I chose to visit my favorite local park, and these are the reflections from my afternoon there.
It’s an absolutely gorgeous afternoon at the park, and there are dogs running amok. Tiny dogs prancing about after their owners; huge dogs exerting their dominance; some well-behaved, others who should definitely not be off-leash in the first place. Birds are cawing in the distance, and bees are buzzing around the buds in the tree above me.
Some of the dogs in the park today are timid and keeping to themselves, while there are others that are clearly more social, running up to all the other dogs to make friends. Some follow the rules and listen to their owners, while others are boisterous and completely unfettered in their play. Isn’t that so similar to us as people, too?
I long to frolic and run free in the vast expanse of grass in the park, as these dogs do. Instead, in my life, I often feel so contained, so observant of the rules, both societal and the ones of my own making (most of which are ridiculous; where did they even come from?!). More than anything, I want to feel a sense of…
