Go on a hike

We have limited the beauty of this world to the size of a tiny screen.

It’s crazy how, all of a sudden, we have limited the beauty of this world to the size of a tiny screen. We scroll through “cinematic” reels and save future “travel spots” on Instagram, but while we do this, we fail to see the beautiful sunsets right outside our windows.

Hiking made me realize how beautiful this world can be. Within miles of walking, we can see the most stunning mountains and swim in the clearest of lakes. But it’s not only the views. While we hike, we lose connection to our phones but gain total presence in the world before us. We finally notice the chirping of the birds without our AirPods, and the intriguing creatures that share the world we live in. With our phones put away, our group chats become real, authentic, hour-long conversations where we truly connect as humans and enjoy the full presence of one another.

Once I returned to nothingness, I noticed how delightfully peaceful nighttime really was. There was a new kind of music in the silence I walked in. I noticed how the moon majestically trumpeted in the night sky and how the stars sang their twinkling melodies. The bridge I always walked on suddenly looked pretty, not because it had changed but because I began to notice the small beauties that surrounded me.

Nowadays we have lost the essence of living in the present. We fill our days constantly consuming external things, and lose ourselves in the process. How can we know what we truly love, enjoy, or hate, or find our purpose, when we gravitate toward things telling us what to do rather than our own hearts, which know us best?

Honestly, I get lost in the daze of college as well. I wake up, study, research, gym, eat, sleep, and wake up to the same process again. Yet it’s good to sometimes take a step back and just breathe. We only live once, so let’s fully experience every second of it. Although I’m busy, hopefully I can go on a hike soon.