Quiet Bliss: Duck-Watching and Forest Walks

Just watched a fluffy thing in the field behind the little hut we call home temporarily here in Sweden. The sun was setting and in the dusky light it was difficult to make out what animal it was. A rabbit was my first hunch. It turned out correct, when it hopped a little further away after a while. A large happy animal, I imagined, munching there in the field.

I’ve watched a lot of animals during our stay here. Mostly the regular visitors to the pond next to the hut. Water birds of various sizes: coots, ducks, geese. Other birds. Differently colored cats. Rabbits, foxes, deer, and even two moose.

I spent a lot of time observing. Not as mindfully as I would like to, but I am practicing.

Together, my wife and I took dozens of walks in the forests, along fields and the quiet streets. Hours of walking and talking. Hours I wouldn’t want to miss.

Those walks, the animals and the relaxing life we had here will be what I remember from our first longer stay in Sweden. We mostly kept to ourselves. Rarely any involvement with others. Sure there were phone and video calls, Zoom meetings, emails and chats and messages – for work and private matters.

But physically, it was mostly just the two of us. The only exceptions being short exchanges with our Airbnb hosts and the handful of trips to grocery stores.

Boredom for others. Bliss for me.

I recall times I’ve forced myself to be at large events, as a teenager and young adult. I thought that’s what people do. To be normal, I thought, required me to spend time at such gatherings and enjoy myself. I rarely did.

It’s liberating to realize that I myself might not need or like activities others long for and seek.

Seek what suits you.