Nature

Profound Peace

When I was a sophomore in college me and my guy friends spent fall break backpacking in the mountains of Colorado. One of our nights there we all spent hours stargazing on a huge rock. The whole time we listened to Gregory Alan Isakov…

Overflowing

To pick one moment of beauty, what a blessing, but what a difficulty when your life overflows with them. If I must pick one it would be the moments when a warm soft breeze is strong enough to let you know it’s there, when the…

My First Catch

One day, I went to a nearby lake to go fishing. I was wanting to catch a fish that day because I had gone fishing before but had never caught anything. We went to the lake and then thirty-minutes later we caught a fish. I was so amazed at that moment and it changed my life, it was…

The Lady Slipper

I’ve hiked this path so many times I could probably manage doing so with my eyes closed. Sturdy bridge, stone stairs, water rushing down below, wind rustling through leaves colored according to season. The state park has a charm that seems to amplify with age, the kind that settles and sculpts a landscape through years of weather and wear.

Beauty that Leaves you in Awe

If I was to broadly categorize the experiences of beauty I have had in my life, there would probably be two groups. The first would be a “loud” beauty. A beauty that I think most people would see right off the bat. This beauty takes your breath away and leaves you in awe. The second group would be a “quiet” beauty. This beauty takes time to sink in. It may require a…

The Green Cathedral

One moment that I encountered beauty that impacted my life was found at the end of a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I worked at a camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains one summer. There was one particular hike nearby called Black Balsam that consisted of a steep incline surrounded by thick forest and followed a rocky path…

Surprised by the Vision

I have, for some time now, wanted to see the Northern lights. Coming from Australia, the phenomenon always remote, and the experience of it unlikely. However, I had a conference in the USA in November. Just three days or so before my flight, I was organizing my arrival with my friend who was due to pick me up, and I happened to recall to this friend that I’d love to see the Northern lights before I die…

Beauty that Leaves you in Awe

Ireland is filled with so many secrets and stories that you can only discover when you encounter the beauty it has to offer. One of the reasons why the beauty of Ireland is so notably striking is because it seems so steady and unchanging. So much of the nature has been untouched since our ancestors have lived there. They walked the same lush green fields, heard the same catchy…

Littleness Encountering Grandeur

The promontory we chose faced the sun. A cool August day on the Lake Superior coastline, very much a dramatic symphony of water, wind, sky, rocks, and trees, had already taught us to let the sun direct our movements. Early in the day, my sister and I followed the sun from tree-line to water’s edge, beckoned by a promise of an open view. The lake stretched out in front of us. I loved the expanse of greys and blues and…