musings in nature 🌿
musings in nature 🌿
some thoughts from my first backpacking trip at Big Sur
(tl;dr version of this post here)
My legs were completely destroyed. Not sure if this was the smartest choice for my very first backpacking trip, but I just finished 20 miles of hiking with 40+ pounds of gear in 2 days. As a newbie hiker, I totally didn’t know what I was signing up for before this trip. However, it did inspire me to reflect upon my relationship with nature. Nature has so much to teach us about life!
⚖️ Nature is indifferent
"Because when I look up in the universe, I know I'm small but I'm also big. I'm big because I'm connected to the universe, and the universe is connected to me." — Neil deGrasse Tyson
As I was hiking in the woods and passing through a narrow cliffside, it dawned on me that even if I fell, nature couldn’t care less. Nature continues on, with or without me. We are only part of the bigger ecosystem of organisms interacting with one other. We are minuscule in the grand scale of things. If you zoom all the way out, our earth is just a tiny dot in the ever-expanding universe.
This brings us to how a lot of our day-to-day problems become meaningless when we are in nature. The late assignment for a class? The promotion you are yearning for? The falling price of the stock market? Things that occupy a majority of our headspace could shrink into something negligible in nature.
🪞 Nature keeps our ego in check
As we brought our tent, food, and supplies all the way into the mountains, I also realized how humbling it is for humans to be in nature. It’s hard to imagine how I’d survive without the equipment we brought. I am no outdoor-survival-expert, so if I’m stranded in the middle of nowhere without anything, I doubt how I’m going to survive.
It’s easy to lose sight of how as an individual, we don’t have much power without all the innovation and technological progress we can take advantage of: I wonder how I’m going to get fresh, drinkable water if we didn’t bring the water filter. I wonder how much harder it’d be to set a fire without a lighter. I wonder how we’d stay warm without the jackets and sleeping bags manufactured somewhere across the world.
This realization also made me feel so much gratitude for all the convenience and comfort of modern technologies. We are standing on the shoulders of the giants before us.
🪢 Nature persists
“Tenacity” is everywhere in nature— the batch of flowers that bloomed from a crevice, the trees that managed to survive after being half-burnt, or the grass that is sprouting in the middle of the river. These plants didn’t have the choice to be in a safely-protected garden, but they thrive and grow relentlessly.
To be honest, it was a bit too much for a newbie to take on 20 miles in 2 days, not to mention I wore the wrong socks (they were too thin). As I literally felt my leg muscle dissolving, I thought about giving up more than once. Would that mean waiting at the spot? Or return to the start of the trail on my own? However, it simply wouldn’t work, because it was too far and it was getting dark. This made me realize giving up was not an option when you are out deep in nature. If you want to give up, you need to finish first, because no one could carry you down the hill. The only way out is through.
🌊 Nature flows
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” — Lao Tzu
I almost tripped when crossing a river. It was a medium-sized river but with a waterfall-like current. Falling would be a big RIP because I had my phones in my pocket and my shoes would get wet (it ended up getting wet in another river).
When tackling a wild beast like that, it’s hard to find stability and stand still when the current is running straight into you. Instead of trying to aim for a footing stubbornly, it’s much easier to put your feet in the water and see where the current brings you before finding a good place to step in. This little realization made me realize we should find the “natural flow” of things, instead of being fixated on what we think should work.
💭 Closing thoughts
Being in nature is like a “get away” from your current life bubble, where you can disconnect and entertain your own thoughts for a period of time. Not only is it a great way to recharge with the peace and beauty in nature but it’s also a great time to check in with yourself and put things into perspective.
Even though I probably have to spend this week at home to recover, it’s worth it! 🌿
