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I have lived a city life and a country life and the country life is for me.

Recently I turned down a job in a city, one of the supposed 'benefits' was a view, a view of storage tanks and overlooking a main road. Some benefit. You can keep that one, I thought. Overlooking a landscape, trees and a lake, that's a benefit.

Indeed, my outlook having changed in the recent years means that I now look for things that give me an opportunity to help people, rather than an opportunity for furthering the consumer way of living.

Making a difference in people's lives is more important, a word to someone who may not have much contact with people can brighten their day, it doesn't cost anything to do so but it may make them feel someone cares.

Creating a positive vibe is good, it makes people feel better. Where I live most people know each other by sight, in the urban jungle that changes. I have known of city streets where people who live next door to people don't even know the names of the people next door, they keep themselves to themselves.

That's a sad thing, but seems to be a part of the consumer society.

I feel lucky to be able to go into the forests nearby and just take in the vibe there, it is certainly true that when you lose that connection and appreciation, then you lose something in yourself. Concrete living sucks out the compassion.

Maybe it is just me, but I seem to be able to 'read' a person and what they are like without speaking to them, sometimes I get the negative vibe from talking to them, finding something that doesn't appeal to me or similar just from the vibe that is coming off of them. I wonder how people can live like that? But they do. I limit my contact with these people.

I came across a piece of wisdom from Tecumseh about being thankful and it summed up a lot of things. Even if you don't have a lot of material things, that does not matter, I think appreciating things you cannot own or make is the mark of someone who is authentic.

Looking at a beautiful mountain, landscape vista or sky is something that you can appreciate and as Tecumseh says to be thankful for and I do.

Appreciating nature and wildlife too is good, just because an animal can't speak our language, does not mean it has less value than us. Investing care in an animal gets you appreciation back.

With the right care, animals that might seem hostile can live with close human contact and no harm is done. I think animals pick up auras and it is strange that some animals will come to me where they will not to others, perhaps some people give off bad energy that the animals pickup. Just because they don't speak does not mean they are not perceptive or intelligent.