Dear Nature,

You’re in the middle of transforming again and I guess I am too. You’re always changing though.

I’m not sure I’ve ever told you, but you’re one of my closest friends on this earth. What we share is something truly remarkable. You’re like me - in an ever-changing state. You’re always changing and if I’m not careful, I might just miss it.

I don’t think I’ve ever properly thanked you though. I’ve never thanked you for helping to take care of me. You’ve helped nurture me through the hardest times of my life. The way your warmth dries my tears to my cheeks, it’s as if you’re right there beside me, wiping them away.

Growing up, I used to fear change. Change meant something unknown was coming, and that frightened me. I used to sit by the window, watching the last of your yellow and orange leaves float onto the grass, wishing that you didn’t have to cover my world in a blanket of white. My pleas seemed to go unanswered by you and that made me both angry and scared.

It was alright in the end though. The frosty chill in the air brought about new opportunities that I wouldn’t have received, had you not had to change.

You’ve taught me that it’s alright to let go. That it’s alright to let go of that which does not serve me, or bring me peace. It’s alright to dive into the unknown. You’ve taught me that letting go is a sign of strength. I look up to you for that, because sometimes I can’t be strong all the time. Sometimes I just need you to listen to me. When I go outside and sit with you, discussing my troubles and you just listen, you make me feel grounded.

Sometimes I just need to release everything I’m feeling. Sometimes it correlates exactly when you drown the air in millions of rain droplets. Sometimes I go out and stand under your stream, until I can’t tell what were my tears and what’s your rain.

I’m not afraid to ask you for help - you’ve never made me feel less than for it. You’re one of the best listeners I know, so I know I can always trust that you’ll guide me towards the best decision.

You come through for me, listening to my favors. Whether it be a quiet whisper after a silent cry, or I’m screaming into the woods where I know my voice will ricochet off of every tree, I call out for your help. It might take you some time, but I see the signs you send me each time.

You’ve never stopped loving me. You were there to hold me when I broke into a million pieces in the grass, begging you not to take those I loved away from me. But you were also there to support me when I fell onto you again, dizzy and happily in love. In an ever-changing world, I’ve grown to understand and love your stable instability.

Nature, there’s so much of you to love. You’re in the giant pines that line the trail that I walk, you’re in the flowing reeds that encompass the still water that house nature’s tiniest creatures. You’re in every sunset I see each night. You’re embedded in the moist dirt between my toes after a long rain shower. You’re attached to my cheeks in a rosy hue after falling onto your white blanket, laughing and remembering what it felt like to be young again.

Thank you nature, for your everlasting unconditional love.