Unpredictable, Surprising Nature

“There’s always something different to discover”
Jolene Nelson Girraween National Park
This is the transcript from Season 2, Episode 5 of the Outdoors is my Therapy Podcast with my friend Jolene Nelson.

Unpredictable, Surprising Nature

Kathryn: Hello and welcome back to The Outdoors is My Therapy podcast. I’m your host, Kathryn Walton. This is series two and each episode you’ll get to meet one of my friends who’ll share what inspires them about the outdoors. Each episode is just a few minutes long, like a little snack of information and inspiration that feeds your mind and your heart and reconnects you with the therapeutic benefits of the outdoor world.

Do you love routine, predictability and consistency? You know, the same, same of life, so that you know exactly what to expect each moment? Or do you thrive with change, with surprises and unpredictability and believe that variety is the spice of life? Humans are wired to appreciate predictability as well as unpredictability.

You will notice that for yourself and other people you know that we each have a preference for one or the other in various situations. You can also see elements of predictability and unpredictability in the natural world around you.

Predictability can be calming and reassuring. It can ease the mind, and it allows us to simplify life. We put things in categories or boxes, and we know what to expect. We’re prepared for how things will be, and we kind of know what to do.

But unpredictability makes you step outside your usual patterns and routines, and it shakes up your thinking. It makes you question your expectations and your reactions. Change is a pretty normal part of life and you can resist it or you can respond with curiosity and open-mindedness. You can see change as an opportunity to learn and to discover something new about yourself or the world, to see things in a new light, to expand the boundaries of your mind and your senses, to more fully experience a sense of aliveness, of awe and wonder.

I can see both predictability and unpredictability in nature. There are patterns and cycles, routines, shapes, textures and colours that are quite predictable and consistent, like the tides and the ocean waves that ebb and flow, the sun that rises in the east and it sets in the west, and the seasons that cycle through the year, and different species of plants and animals grow in predictable ways as well.

On the other hand, nature also has unpredictable elements that can be unsettling, like lightning or a wintry blizzard. Or these unpredictable elements can be surprises that delight you. For example, the rapid regrowth after a bushfire, an unexpected field of wildflowers in bloom, a bee busily inspecting the blossoms in your veggie garden, the swirling clouds or a thick fog that’s constantly changing, morphing into different shapes and then suddenly disappearing as if by magic. And what about the sparkling rocks on the edge of a pond? Unpredictability is part of nature’s survival mechanism because you get to outsmart your predators and you take a risk to be or to do something differently which could improve your chances of survival, but you won’t know until you try.

Humans are wired to be sometimes predictable, sometimes unpredictable, just like other things in nature. My challenge to you is to notice the elements of predictability and unpredictability in nature and celebrate the wonder of nature being the same yet different. Celebrate the diversity of our world. Get up close. Be curious and be surprised each time you go outside.

Today’s guest loves the unpredictable nature of nature. Jolene Nelson has worked for many years in the outdoors, and she loves to spend her recreational time outside too. In today’s episode, Jo shares what inspires her about the outdoors, and she tells us about some of her favourite places. Meet my friend Jo.

Jo, what inspires you about the outdoors?

Jolene: I guess the number one inspiration for me about the outdoors is that it’s so unpredictable. You just don’t know what you’re going to see, what you’re gonna smell, what you’re gonna experience. Um, yeah, there’s always something different every time you go for a walk or a swim or whatever. yeah, that, that for me, I like, you know, I kind of like things that change. Yeah, the unpredictable nature of it.

Kathryn: What’s your favourite place in the outdoors?

Jolene: Anywhere where there’s water and rocks. Okay. That’s very general. I know. I do love the ocean. I, I think I must be a water sign because as soon as I get there, I just feel absolute calm. But in saying that, there’s a lot of wild places inland. Girraween yeah, no doubt is, is very much part of me. I’ve been there working in that area for 25 years, so anywhere in Girraween. It soothes my soul, but definitely beside any water course and where there’s some big rocks, you know, and there might be some wombats close by that I can’t see cuz they’re underground obviously. And wildflowers. I love the wildflowers in Girraween. Got 750 different species. So it’s that, you know, there’s always something different to discover.

Kathryn: Thanks for tuning into The Outdoors is My Therapy podcast. We hope you feel inspired to connect with the outdoors no matter how big or small your adventures might be. If you’re looking for more inspiration or you’d like to connect with others in the outdoors is my therapy community. Check the show notes for all the links.

You can listen to the episode “Unpredictable, Surprising Nature” here:

LINKS

Read more about Girraween National Park

Contact Kathryn via her website

Grab your free Guide to a Perfect Nature Escape Day when you subscribe to the Grounded Inspiration newsletter (limited time)

Join the Outdoors is my Therapy Facebook Group

“Your Personal Day of Retreat: A guide to planning self-care and stress management that really works” e-book

Music by Twisterium from Pixabay

7 Step Action Plan to Conquer Scary Stuff (Part 1)

I knew I was physically capable of doing it, I’d done it several times in the past. So what was getting in the way of me ACTUALLY doing it NOW??? Over a period of a few months, the idea of riding “the scary corner” on my bike loomed bigger and scarier and I felt worse and worse. I don’t know what had changed in my mind – nothing had changed on the trail, so I figured it was some sort of powerful intra-psychic voodoo playing with my confidence and keeping me feeling small and pathetic. I couldn’t even blame it on a fall or anything like that!

After much soul searching, I made the commitment to myself that I was going to conquer the fear that had irrationally built up in my mind. I really wanted to take charge of my fearful thoughts which seemed to be controlling my actions. It was as if my own thoughts were bullying me. The longer it went on, the worse it became. I knew that if I could get this sorted, I’d be able to transfer the skills and processes to other situations that make me nervous and better manage them as well.

So here’s the 7 Step Action Plan that helped me overcome my fear of riding “the scary corner”:

  1. Walk it through

That’s right. The first thing I did was leave the bike behind, put on my sports shoes, and simply walk the corner – repeatedly! I familiarised myself with every stone, stick and slope. I walked it forwards and backwards. I looked at it from every possible angle. “The scary corner” and myself got to know each other well, and we gradually became friends!

  1. “Is anything missing?”

By getting down close and personal with the scary corner I was able to see that there was, in fact, nothing in it that I couldn’t ride. Tight left bend – check. Six inch drop over a rock – check. Angle of slope – check. Width of trail – not a problem. Nope ….. I wasn’t missing any particular skills apart from the ability to curb the fantastic stories my mind was creating about how scary the corner is! And as for equipment, well my bike is well maintained and more than capable of negotiating this terrain.

The Scary Corner is quite photogenic! It really doesn’t look so scary here!
  1. Make modifications – physical and / or psychological

I’d been noticing that other people often lowered their seats when descending. I also noticed my own urge to get my weight lower and further back on similar corners on other trails. So, I lowered my saddle and instantly felt a lot more secure about my body position on rough descending trails. This triggered a whole new attitude of positivity and hopefulness.

  1. Identify your focus

    Keep your eyes on the sticks, NOT the cactus or the steep slope or the rocks!

Our eyes are naturally drawn towards danger. It’s a protective mechanism which sometimes backfires on us. Mountain biking is often counter-intuitive. If you focus on the obstacle, that’s where you’ll go. To help train my eye away from the steep slope, rocks and trees that I wanted to avoid as I approached the corner, I lined the ground on the right side with small twigs to act as a visual aid (a bit like the white line marking on the road). Then I walked the trail again and again, practising keeping my eye on the twigs and not looking at the stuff I wanted to avoid!

  1. Practise your exit
Practise the technical parts of the exit – keep on track, get over the drop-off, & time your peddling to get past the craggy rocks as you go back uphill!

I now began to think about actually riding the corner. But there were a couple of tricky parts and I noticed a feeling welling up inside me – the fear of getting halfway round the corner then getting trapped because I mightn’t be able to exit properly. I visualised myself falling off on the rocks and knocking my head on a tree as I tumbled down the slope and through the prickly pear. So, I needed to do something to allay my concerns. I set to work practising my exit skills on “the scary corner”. Repeatedly I walked my bike halfway round the corner so I could ride the second half of it only, over the drop-off and carefully navigate between the large protruding rocks, timing my pedal strokes just right so that I didn’t knock myself off. This built a lot more confidence and eliminated a few of the scary factors that had been distracting me.

  1. Make your entrance!

    A short steep downhill section between and over the rocks forms the entry to the sharp-ish left hand corner.

Well now that I knew I had it all together in my head and that I could physically do it, all that was left was to make my entrance. Get down low and go, go, go! I think I even remembered to breathe, and suddenly I’d done it! In a brief second or two, I’d successfully navigated “the scary corner” and wondered what all the fuss had been about!

  1. Celebrate your growth

It may seem trivial to other people, and you may be the only one who truly knows what your achievement means to you. But don’t let that stop you from learning, practising, growing, and celebrating. Whatever your style – whoop out loud to the universe, punch the air, pat yourself on the back, or maybe even write a blog about it!

What things make you feel nervous? Maybe going to a meeting or party where you’re not sure if you know anyone? Going in a lift? Making a phone call that you’ve been dreading? How might the 7 Step Action Plan help you to conquer your fear or change a behaviour habit?

Read my next blog post about applying the 7 Step Action Plan to some “everyday scenarios” that commonly get our nerves going and our minds racing.