- Nature
Before I spent some time in Nature, I decided to reread Emerson’s Nature Essay. The quote above from the essay seemed very relevant to what I was about to do. It’s true that people take nature for granted and forget how stunning it is. It becomes such a habitual thing for me to see the ocean everyday on the way to school. I overlook its beauty and magnificence. Children tend to appreciate nature more than adults probably because it is new to them and they have the time to really look at it and see it. As people get older they no longer take the time to connect with nature.
Saturday morning I decided to walk down to the ocean and spend some quality time with Nature. I live a few blocks away but can not recall the last time I walked to the beach First of all, I rarely walk anywhere anymore since I can drive so the fact I was walking to the beach was out of the ordinary. I began my walk and immediately noticed that my mind slowed down. All the thoughts that were rushing through my head stopped rushing and calmed down. Walking does that to me. It’s different than driving which can stress me out. Anyways about 10 minutes later I was on the beach. I found a rock and sat down and stayed there for a good half hour. I realized that my senses wee heightened. I wasn’t just using my eyes. I was hearing more and feeling more. The waves were gorgeous and watching them calmed me so much. They just keep crashing down over and over again. I watched the birds fly around and the surfers in the water. I think it was good for my mind to be out in nature… very clearing. After a while I started to think about conflicts in my life but I didn’t think about them the same way I always had. I had a much clearer vision of the problems and I was thinking about them in a much more logical way.
I feel like being in nature makes you put things in perspective. Problems that had seemed so important, seemed less so when I thought about them then. I was also reminded of the fact that I’m a very small part of a very large world. Seeing the ocean which is so vast and seemingly unending made me think about that. Life’s short and you shouldn’t spend it worrying about things that don’t matter (something I tend to do).
All in all, I really enjoyed that walk down to the beach and will definitely do that again sometime soon. I too often overlook nature and on the walk I truly appreciated it.
3 comments:
I totally know what you mean. Going to the beach made my problems seem way less urgent. Everything seemed so unimportant compared to the vastness of the ocean. I came to that same realization that the drama I spend a lot of time obsessing over, really doesn't matter. In the grand scheme of things, what matters is that I am happy. At the beach, with the ocean, I always feel content.
This is cool. My nature experiment was similar.. but after reading yours I got a completely different take on what the ocean's prescence can do to you. I really liked the part where you talked about being a small part in a big world. From this I feel that to you Nature meant Truth, in the sense that when you connect with Nature, it allows you to put everything in perspective. We ARE only small people in a very very very big world. With that said, this connection with nature that makes you realize that goes against the society we live in which consists of me me me. This isn't a bad confliction with society, just a true one. So.. it's weird that the ocean made you realize all of this. Sorta cool at the same time.
I have the same reaction when walking. Everything slows down and makes thinking about things easier.
The ocean is probably one of my favorite things in the world. Just looking out at the horizon and the continually crashing waves heal everything. The taste of salt and cool mist settle my mind.
Though as much as I love the beach, I also tend to avoid it. Too often I feel that the beach is far too stressful due to the crowds. Shameful really, because the ocean is so powerful in its ability to calm me.
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