On Tuesday, our class went to Beidler Forest, one of the world's oldest and largest remaining floodplains. I found our walk through the forest, which full of Bald Cyprus as far as the eye could see, to be one of the most peaceful and serene ways to spend an afternoon. But then I remembered that as a kid, even in my early teenage years, I hated the outdoors. My afternoons usually consisted of video games, TV, and homework, without a trace of time spent outside. And then I wondered: how on earth did I go from being a full-on couch potato to an outdoor junkie, in such a short period of time?
My attitude towards nature began to change as I started running outside for exercise and recreation (that, too is an ironic story of how I suddenly transformed into an athlete). For cross country practice, we would usually run on the Chattahoochee National Park trails where we were surrounded by trees, all of which overlooked the big, beautiful Chattahoochee River. The outdoors quickly became a place of quiet meditation for me, not just because I began associating nature trails to exercise endorphins, but because I truly felt a "spiritual" connection and a deep appreciation for the natural world and all its beauty.
For some reason, walking along the trails of Beilder Forest reminded me of those first few weeks of cross country. We're constantly surrounded by the natural world, but until we take the time to actually see its beauty, appreciate it, and feel a deeper connection to it that surpasses our minds' comprehension, only then can we start to grasp how special nature really is.
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