As I walk out of Barnes & Noble with a coffee in my hand after spending an hour there reading books, it starts raining. Unexpectedly. My first instinct is to run towards my car and get home quickly. But then, suddenly I just stop. Something made me stop. It was the smell of wet earth, probably. Or may be it was the sight of the grey clouds hovering above me. May be it was the drenched look of the surrounding. Or it was the touch of water drops on my skin. It could also have been the fresh whiff of cool air that blew past me. Whatever it was, it made me stop. And I just stood outside drinking in the magic that nature was weaving around me.

It was funny. I had gone to Barnes & Noble just to relax myself. I spent an hour there reading Calvin and Hobbes, my favorite comic strip, hoping that it will pep up my mood. But surprisingly, it did not. And as I walked out, the rains caught me by surprise. The entire atmosphere was, however, so magical that it gently washed away the layer of smugness that had covered my mind – in a matter of few seconds. The fresh whiff of air blew away the cobwebs of thought that had crowded my mind. I felt light again. The passersby looked at me quizzically as I stood in the middle of the rain gettting drenched with a hint of a smile on my face.

It is amazing how nature affects our mood, isn’t it? It strikes a chord among all of us. Have you ever listened to the waves playing catch up with each other on a quiet evening? It is music that you won’t get tired of listening. Or have you ever smelled the grass after the first rains? The smell will invigorate your mind and body. Try to hear to the birds singing in the morning. Or be a witness to the sun’s journey as he wraps up the day in the evening. May be you should also try staring at the stars in the sky on a clear, cool night. I have. It is amazing. I always get the feeling that someone is smiling at me from beyond the stars… and tenderly caressing my forehead. I don’t know why I feel that way. It is the feeling that I used to get when I used to sleep in my mother’s lap and she would gently move her soft hand across my hair. I feel very little in their presence. I feel nice. And I feel safe. It makes me realize that no matter how bad a day I had or how big a mistake I made, it is OK. It will be fine. Nothing in life can be too overwhelming. I mean, what can be more overwhelming than the vast stretch of the sky above me? Or the huge expanse of the ocean? Or the endless stretches of land that you see from a mountain top?

I find it funny how we human beings think that we have the solution to all our problems. I think it is just too presumptuous or even foolish of us to think that way. In this rat race to become “strong”, “independent”, “self-reliant”, etc. we sometimes probably become so egotistical that we don’t want to admit our fears to anyone – not even to ourselves. When the stress gets too much, all we need is probably for someone to say that its fine, but we fear to expose our “weakness” to someone else. Even if we do, who has the time in today’s world to be there for you and comfort you? I always take the recourse of Mother Nature when I feel like that. When I look at the huge expanse of a starry sky above me, I feel “little” or insignificant. I think it helps to feel like that sometimes. It makes you feel it is alright even if you are not the best, even if you fail. The world is not going to end or the stars won’t stop shining because you failed or had a bad day or are inundated by grief. It puts things in perspective…so that you don’t get too overwhelmed by your weaknesses, failures, or even, for that matter, successes.

It has now stopped raining. I am refreshed and have a pile of work to do. And I can’t be more eager to have a crack at it!