Hey all! Long time lurker first time poster. I’m working on a post for my blog, and taking answers for the question above— no rules, stipulations, etc. It can be what you want it to be!
Just looking for some unique perspectives, stories, and answers to share. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. 🙌
Photo from my recent adventure in the forests of Punta Cana for attention. 🙂
by NateWilliamsonSports
13 Comments
What is that thing across the screen
Serenity, Feeling grounded, Stillness, Calm ☯️
Everything and nothing
ATM, it means melting…it’s 37°C here in Central Texas
Lush greenery
It reminds me of how small and insignificant my “problems” and life are in the scheme of existence and it puts things in perspective. It reminds me also that someday I will return to it after I die and it’s a comfort, a feeling of belonging.
Peace, calm, joy, and connectedness.
I need to go to bed. I thought your picture had a big roll of duct tape on that palm tree. Enough internet for today. Goodnight, everyone! 🥴😴😭
But to quickly answer your question before that: escape from the stress and chaos; silence and peace.
The peace of being connected with the Earth
Heading outdoors eventually leads within. The first people on Earth were hikers and campers. So today, when we walk the land and bed down on it, we’re living in the most primitive, elemental way known to our species. We’re returning to a way of life intrinsic to the human experience. We’re shedding the burden of millennia of civilization. We’re seeking catharsis. We’re inviting enlightenment.
Being outdoors to me is the most healthy thing I can do, for my body and my soul. In a world of technology and social media and work and money, it reminds me that I’m real. And that the world is real. I can be as silent or as loud as i want to be. I don’t have to think about anything, or it can be the perfect time to think, even if I don’t want to sometimes. I don’t feel any insecurities in nature, cuz i get the actual physical example of looking at the sky and remembering that I’m one of billions of ants that just gets smaller and smaller the higher you go. We can’t even see the ceiling of our world down here, and up there it definitely doesn’t see us. And space is just infinite past that.
I battle constantly with mortality and impending doom, the “where do i go? Do we even go anywhere at all? Or do we just disappear, it’s over” so when I’m outside, I’m able to experience the simple things and be in the beauty that is our earth, while I’m here. We’re not here for a long time at all, so i feel it’s important to connect and have fun in this, it can’t constantly be the internet, drama and turmoil, or fancy restaurants and striving for a huge house with surplus commodities. That should only be a fraction of my time.
I can take a hike and smell and touch and feel the most beautiful, simple things. I can climb, run, scale obstacles. I can ride those same trails on my mountain bike. I can hammock and listen to music. Or i can find a field and throw a ball or play badminton with my fiance, or a friend. Or play around in a river or a lake.
Outdoors is anyone’s playground. I was actually thinking a while ago, structured play, or play at all, doesn’t happen too often for me anymore now that I’m an adult and out of school. Probably most people don’t play often. That’s probably why we like watching sports. I miss playing, laughing and having fun and excercising my body in a way that many people don’t do when we work our 9-5 and then go home exhausted. So any sport, any game I can play, simply exploring even, it feels good.
You don’t need money to be outside, your status doesn’t matter outside. You can be dirt poor and go for a walk. You can be mortally contagiously ill and go for a walk. Shit, when we were in the meat of covid and quarantine, going for a walk was the only thing a lot of us could do. And I’m sure it saved a lot of people.
Everything moves so fast, the world is so divided, and dark, and depressing most times. But if you have time to go on a trail and just be, go do it. See what animals you find, bring someone you love and talk about literally everything and nothing. Humans need the sun, and we biologically/mentally benefit from connecting with nature, which is why it truly is important to make time to experience it every now and then. And part of the many obvious reasons why it needs to be protected.
You should limit the characters! My earliest memories of actual freedom are from camping trips to Big Bend I’m the 70’s. I don’t need to say anything about the equipment or lack thereof compared to our current times. My dad was an Army officer and we used pup tents of all things.
When I’m out in the thick of it (western WA), as I do so often, I look at all the things, all the life infinitely resilient and ever changing, and see clearly our connection to the past, and the future. It was here long before us and will be here long after we have passed from all memory. We came from the dust of its decay and it too will spring forth from the dust we leave behind. It is us, and we are it.
Edited to add: This is a bit from my own writing, so I’m not sure how helpful this actually is.