Reflections of the Wild

A few common things for people to question every now and then during their lifetime are, "Is my life on the track that I want to be taking? Are there more things that I should be doing? Am I at the same place where I said I would be by now, 10 years ago, or have I crossed to a better path?" Everyone ponders at least one of these thoughts once during their existence, and most people have a special place where they like to go and reflect on these thoughts. The place where I like to reflect on my ideas about how far I have come is in the wilderness, where I have developed a lot of character.

The peace, the quiet, the scenery, the freshness ... These are all great aspects that have helped to influence who I am today. In elementary school, several of the classes that I was in would take field trips to places in nature. Although, I don't remember the names of these places, vivid memories have crossed my mind. These field trips taught us to respect other creatures by not destroying their habitats. Just like humans, wild animals need a place to live too. These trips also helped to keep people quiet and listen to the sounds while observing the surroundings using the five senses. In doing so, we could smell the freshness of a recently watered ground and trees. The smell would be so fresh that you could almost taste green vegetables or berries just like working on the crops in a farm. Several noises—mostly birds chirping, but also the flapping of wings could be heard. Finally the beauty of it all was most amazing! The trees would still have water drops from the morning rain and spider webs would appear as though a picture had been drawn for the setting of a movie scene. There would mostly be dirt trails and several fallen trees. Occasionally, we would come across a small bridge leading over a small pond or swamp filled with fish. Now the memories are never ending, but the visitations are becoming less and less frequent. Through being taught to observe on those nature hikes, I would enjoy taking in everything of the environment. This had taught me to be more observant about my surroundings and take in all the little activities of life, by using my senses. They also taught me to be respectful, not only of everyone, but of their belongings as well.

A visit to a quiet, environmental place helped me to reflect on the current rat races taking place right before my eyes and opened my heart to new values. While visiting places in nature, everything tends to slow down and the fast pace of everyday life nearly stops. By repeating this same stalling of time, every time, when I visit anything having to do with the wilderness, I have learned to value life and to take some time for myself at least once a week to slow down a little bit. Although, as I am growing older it is getting harder and harder to find a day where I can just slow down and reflect on my life patterns. More recently, I have had the opportunity to go to Putnam Park with a few of my close friends. We always packed a lunch and walked down all the paths until we got tired. Once we strolled across a decent place to eat, we would sit down. As we ate I took the time to look into my future. While doing this, families or couples holding hands often passed us. I decided this is what I want for my future; to still be deeply in love and to not ever let go of the small things that embrace the meaning of love, also to cherish any children I might have. I value my family and believe that they should be the center of my life.

Nature has had several influences on my life, as well as I'm sure it has had on other lives. For a while during my early teenage years, I began to feel extremely depressed. I had reached a point where I was ready to give up on everything and everyone. Then the time came when I went to a peaceful place outside where I could take the time to think. I was able to think about all the accomplishments in my life that I had already achieved and realized that I still had so many more things to experience. In having the time to reflect on this, I realized that I couldn't give up, and that all I needed to do was hold on for a little while longer until the road became a little less steep. After this, my views began to change and everything smoothed out. If I didn't have that special, quiet place to ponder my thoughts, my life could have turned in a very different direction. Nature has influenced me to be a positive person and to only live up to my expectations, the the expectations that so many other people tend to put on me.

The degrading aspects towards nature are devastating subjects that need to be mentioned. With so many people having a sentimental attachment to nature, it is heart wrenching to view the mortifying behaviors that have taken place. So many people are careless as to what they do to their environment. They litter around the streets and don't even take the time to think about how other people are being affected. This is taking away from the peacefulness and crawling of time that is necessary to achieve a sense of gratitude towards one's life. It would be shameful if others are not able to have a quiet place to reflect on their values and life paths, as I have had a place to go in order to think about my life's journey.