I’ve always been the type of person who enjoys being surrounded by nature. Nature offers me an escape from the stress, expectations, and deadlines that constantly plague my life. It gives me a chance to be myself, without all of the pressures that go along with being a teenager in the twenty-first century. During the summers, 
I go on a house boating trip with my neighbors and we bring no clocks, TVs, cell phones, laptops, or any other electronics, and the natural beauty that surrounds us is incredibly refreshing. I can’t imagine my life without that trip to rejuvenate me after a long school year. When I’m out on the lake, the biggest decision I have to make is deciding if I feel like going wake boarding, reading a book, or playing a board game with my friends. It’s amazingly liberating. As Emerson said, “To the body and mind which have been cramped by noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone.”
Yet although I’ve always acknowledged the rejuvenating qualities of nature, it is so easy to forget as soon as things get hectic. With school and dance class and homework and SAT prep, life gets busy and we rarely have the opportunity to get back to nature and by doing so, get back to ourselves. Sometimes I need a little “me” time to think about things, and nature readily provides the perfect atmosphere.
So tonight, I decided to take my dog on a long walk to spend some time with nature. I live in Scripps Ranch, and I usually just walk along the sidewalk around the block, but I felt like that wouldn’t really give me the connection with nature that I was looking for. Scripps Ranch
borders the Miramar Military Base, which mostly consists of open land, left to itself to grow natural San Diego brush. So I walked up the hill to the end of a cul-de-sac and instead of just admiring the open expanse of land that is the military base, I walked right into it, which is something I’ve never actually done before (it might even be illegal!). I found a little path through the brush and my little malti-poo and I hiked away from all the houses to the very top of the hill. It was only about a five minute walk, but when I got there, what I saw took my breath away. It was sunset, and the clouds on the horizon were on fire with the light of the setting sun. I was facing west, but I couldn’t actually see the sun because there was a fog bank on the coast. The cold breeze blew my hair and I actually found myself taking in big, deep, breaths as I tried to take in the serenity of it all.
I sat down in the dirt and paused to reflect and think. I thought about the challenges and conflicts I am currently facing in my life along with the areas of my life that I believe are going pretty well. My thoughts wandered, but there was one main conflict that I kept going back to again and again. I was stuck, wrestling with the idea of joining a sports team with two of my best friends. I had never played before, and there was a long story as to why I was even considering this leap that would take me so far from my comfort zone, but I kind of wanted take the leap and see where it would take me! I thought about what I had to gain and what I had to lose by trying or not trying, and the cold air
cleared my head as I pondered this crazy idea. And in the end, I decided that I would go to the practice on Monday and give it a try. I didn’t have much to lose, and the peaceful environment gave me a new found sense of confidence and spontaneity.
Emerson states, “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit,” and I couldn’t agree more. Nature allows you to be yourself, and whatever emotion you are feeling, nature will go along with. I felt like taking a leap, and the cool air and vibrant colors of the sunset matched my mood, and inspired me to go for it. I’m not sure exactly how long I was out there, sitting in the dirt on the Miramar Base, but it was after dark when I finally stood up and brushed myself off. Nature creates an environment where it is so easy to lose contact with reality and time as you become fully absorbed in your own thoughts.
I go on a house boating trip with my neighbors and we bring no clocks, TVs, cell phones, laptops, or any other electronics, and the natural beauty that surrounds us is incredibly refreshing. I can’t imagine my life without that trip to rejuvenate me after a long school year. When I’m out on the lake, the biggest decision I have to make is deciding if I feel like going wake boarding, reading a book, or playing a board game with my friends. It’s amazingly liberating. As Emerson said, “To the body and mind which have been cramped by noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone.”Yet although I’ve always acknowledged the rejuvenating qualities of nature, it is so easy to forget as soon as things get hectic. With school and dance class and homework and SAT prep, life gets busy and we rarely have the opportunity to get back to nature and by doing so, get back to ourselves. Sometimes I need a little “me” time to think about things, and nature readily provides the perfect atmosphere.
So tonight, I decided to take my dog on a long walk to spend some time with nature. I live in Scripps Ranch, and I usually just walk along the sidewalk around the block, but I felt like that wouldn’t really give me the connection with nature that I was looking for. Scripps Ranch
borders the Miramar Military Base, which mostly consists of open land, left to itself to grow natural San Diego brush. So I walked up the hill to the end of a cul-de-sac and instead of just admiring the open expanse of land that is the military base, I walked right into it, which is something I’ve never actually done before (it might even be illegal!). I found a little path through the brush and my little malti-poo and I hiked away from all the houses to the very top of the hill. It was only about a five minute walk, but when I got there, what I saw took my breath away. It was sunset, and the clouds on the horizon were on fire with the light of the setting sun. I was facing west, but I couldn’t actually see the sun because there was a fog bank on the coast. The cold breeze blew my hair and I actually found myself taking in big, deep, breaths as I tried to take in the serenity of it all.I sat down in the dirt and paused to reflect and think. I thought about the challenges and conflicts I am currently facing in my life along with the areas of my life that I believe are going pretty well. My thoughts wandered, but there was one main conflict that I kept going back to again and again. I was stuck, wrestling with the idea of joining a sports team with two of my best friends. I had never played before, and there was a long story as to why I was even considering this leap that would take me so far from my comfort zone, but I kind of wanted take the leap and see where it would take me! I thought about what I had to gain and what I had to lose by trying or not trying, and the cold air
cleared my head as I pondered this crazy idea. And in the end, I decided that I would go to the practice on Monday and give it a try. I didn’t have much to lose, and the peaceful environment gave me a new found sense of confidence and spontaneity.Emerson states, “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit,” and I couldn’t agree more. Nature allows you to be yourself, and whatever emotion you are feeling, nature will go along with. I felt like taking a leap, and the cool air and vibrant colors of the sunset matched my mood, and inspired me to go for it. I’m not sure exactly how long I was out there, sitting in the dirt on the Miramar Base, but it was after dark when I finally stood up and brushed myself off. Nature creates an environment where it is so easy to lose contact with reality and time as you become fully absorbed in your own thoughts.
3 comments:
i LOVE THESE PICTURES! (They were so bright they kinda hurt my eyes:))
I read your nature response, and let me tell you- I can totally relate with the lake situation. I can't imagine what it was like for you, but I know that odd feeling of floating at night on this unidentifiable living entity. Looking out onto the seemingly dead water you get a weird rush of adrenaline, yet everything's unfathomably calm. At least that's me. (think I'm crazy yet? :))
There's truly something to be said, as you touched on in your post, for removing yourself from a daily routine and taking a step out of the system to explore and discover. How special is it to find a sunset? Clearly it exists without your will, but it's almost like that distinct moment of its incredible splendor was packaged and prepared just for you to experience.
That sound's like such a cool experience! It's always easier to think more clearly when we're apart from everything we get distracted with (as emerson says, solitude). For some reason though, being on top, seeing that view over the coast gives you a whole new approach on your life and the world itself.
I believe Sunsets are particularly effective. Simply staring at the colors, (loved your description.. ever think of joining journalism?) you being to roam mentally and emotionally, and usually end up with some sort of conclusion to whatever your mind was filled with when you came.
Overall, i really liked what you had to say about nature's effect on you, and I loved that it was so personal. That houseboat trip sounds like fun!
Hopefully these cloud banks will skidaddle and stop blocking the sunsets! haha
Marissa, this response to nature is great, and I love how you pulled us in with your pictures, to bring us to be present in the moment that you were describing.
Like you, I often feel overwhelmed by our daily routines, and nature always seems to calm me and restore me. I love how you included how this was going to be a new experience for you, (and it may even have been illegal :) ), and how you honestly tried to seperate yourself from the daily confusion of life and civilization. This quote from Anne Frank, really sums up the message of you post I believe; "The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature."
I believe this relates to your passage because you included how you were trying to decide on playing on this new sports team, and that you were also attempting to sort through conflicts in your life that may have left you unhappy.
The most important thing that I believe you should take from your own writing, is the importance of changing up your normal routine, and trying something new. I am not sure if you realized it, but going down the new path into the miramar base, is just like the idea of deciding to join a new sports team. The sights you saw at the end of your journey into the open landscape, may just be like the gratification you get from trying this new sport.
Marissa, your nature experiment is truly rewarding, in that you learned something about yourself, and you were willing to take a risk that truly paid off. Maybe on the next walk with your dog, you will head up that trail again, and recieve the same gratitude. :)
Those pictures are really pretty. They really popped out from your page too with the dark background. Anyways, I really like the way you wrote about your connection with Nature. After reading it, it seems like Nature not only just calmed you down like everyone else, but it also gave you inspiration in some sort of way. The nature might not have directly inspired you, but it seems like it inspired you to get in touch with yourself, which then possibly subconsciously inspired you to do new things you might not have done before (going into the military place that's possibly illegal, trying a new sports team, etc). Also, I like how your nature setting is different than everyone else's. It seems like everyone is going to the beach (myself included) or whatever, but the fact that you were with your dog in your own city by your own house in a place probably nobody really has been before makes it seem like it was a more personal experience for you. All of this seems to have made a real impact on you which not everyone can get from it. Good luck at your new sports practice!
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