Nature has made me realize that our surroundings is a blessing and it needs to be loved just as much as we love other things in our life. Everyone has their own connection with nature. My connection was when I did a 3 hr hike, but I am pretty sure people have been connected to nature in many other ways such as the environment at home, the commute back to school, playing outside, or whatever you experienced in the wild. It was very nice listening to everyone else outlook on nature. There were many different kinds of connections with nature that we might have never even thought about doing ourselves. In our class we discussed about going camping. I never ever did that until the day I went hiking. My first thoughts was people from Dorchester don't do these things, but having that relaxation for a few days exploring nature allowed my mind to flow and cherish what I had at that moment. I had to go two days without showering, and two days hiking back in forth. This was the worst and the best experience because I wanted to shower, but It allowed me to be grateful for the food I have and the roof over my head. Another example is going skiing, I would love to try skiing even though I know i am not at all good at this, but sometimes stepping out your comfort zone makes you stronger and all these aspects is still a part of nature. When I was about 11 years old nature to me meant bugs and that I hated it up until I experienced different fun events that made me the person I am today after dealing with nature.
Nature also allows you to connect with your friends and family on a different level rather than at home with all of the technology. I learned instead of spending my summers in the house and working everyday to joining programs to experience life and thats why I love to travel to different cities/states. We need to appreciate our Earth and all the beautiful things it has to offer. The stories talked about in class today opened my eyes and allowed me to appreciate what I have in front of me.
I had a similar experience when I went camping as a girl scout and I became really home-sick. In the first week I was really focused on trying to get out and get back home until one day I went swimming in the lake at the camp at 8 am. That experience really opened up my eyes to see that the city was not all that and that the forest was better since I was not surrounded by gases and loudness of people but instead the loudness of the wind rustling the trees and the birds chirping. In a sense I was able to find calmness and reflect upon myself.
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