I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier. There are times for all of us when there's just no

consolation from other people or from society. We feel misunderstood or we're so swamped by anxiety

or anger or sorrow that it's hard to be around other people or maybe we feel isolated and lonely

or maybe we're so upset angry and anxious when we listen to the news we don't know what to do with

ourselves. But when we can't take comfort in other people we can often turn to nature. The

beauty of nature, its impersonal rhythms, its splendid indifference to our personal concerns,

are a comfort. I don't think it's selfish to seek refuge in nature. When we restore our spirits

then we're better able to think about other people with compassion and seek to address the

problems of the world. Now I am not much of a music enthusiast, I must confess, but there are

some songs that I do love and one of my favorite songs is from Nina Simone, her song Feeling Good.

Here are a few verses.

It's drifting on by you know how I feel. It's a new dawn, it's a new day.

It's a new life for me, yeah it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me.

Ooh, and I'm feeling good.

If you'd like to listen to the entire song I'll post a link in the show notes. I think that

this beautiful song is a reminder that when people give us no solace we can turn to nature.

I'm Gretchen Rubin and I hope this makes your week a little happier.