How Country Living Calms Your Conscience

Growing up in Los Angeles, I've become accustomed to a fast-paced lifestyle -- complete with constant smog, traffic clusters and an underlying yearning for fame. It's sunny in November, constantly packed with clumps of eager tourists taking photographs of street signs, and driving by a movie set on the way to Starbucks isn't out of the ordinary. These quirks make city life unique, adding new dimensions to the eclectic metropolises of freeways and titanic buildings many call home.

But I do think that every "city person" needs a taste of the country to balance out their hectic, anxiety-prone days. A hike among the birches and a nice dose of fresh air can do wonders for the stressed workaholic. Somehow being atop an immense mountain with no wireless connection and only endless fields of wildflowers in sight offers a deep relaxation very rarely discovered throughout day to day life.

But of course, it can be impossible to take a weekend off -- let alone a few hours. Trust me, I'm not advocating you hop on the next plane and head straight to the nearest lake or river. Tickets are excruciatingly expensive, responsibilities too crucial to be neglected. And even though a therapeutic rejuvenation sounds tempting, you keep telling yourself that you can't "escape" your problems. But if you're nodding your head to that last part, you've misunderstood my intent. Of course we can't avoid life's challenges and difficulties. What I'm saying is that we all could interject a little bit of pure enlightenment into our lives, as an homage to the nature-neglected part of our souls.

So how does one manage to procure to this feat? It all begins with little choices worth taking advantage of. Going to the gym? Instead try taking a jog through a park or practicing yoga in the shade. Fill your abode with fresh life in the form of spring roses, tulips, even a Siamese fighting fish can send off a higher vibration. Whenever possible, create invigorating rituals for yourself to replenish and rejuvenate the remnants of a discordant day. A bath with Eucalyptus oils and scented candles, for example. Even spritzing your pillows with a lavender mist can do wonders for the sinuses. Your alarm clock? Switch it's angry beep to a soothing piano concerto or violin sonata. Plant a vegetable garden. Open your windows. Change your computer's screensaver to a tranquil forest.

You see, all these modifications truly add up over time to lift your mood and soothe your conscience. This way you'll be able to maintain a sense of bucolic-industrial balance until the time eventually comes around where you can take a drive to Yosemite, visit a tropical destination or have a picnic one Saturday afternoon.

Personally, I think that blissful tidbits of spontaneity are what keep me going when days get tough. Even if something seems too minute to matter, you'll never be able to predict its affect on you once coupled with other little pick-me-ups. Because although we try to ignore it, the world will inadvertently become more and more jarring on our nerves. Populations are increasing, pollution is worsening -- sometimes it all seems to coalesce into a bothersome, omnipresent cacophony. So take those five minutes in the morning to center yourself, or that brisk walk before dusk. Because if something uplifts and inspires you in any way, it truly is worth it.