below you will find words that I was planning to post on instagram (picture at bottom), but am now here due to one of the reasons I so fondly hate the popular app. enjoy ♥
12.2.19 || layers of life
hi, sooo im not really sure what i’m doing with my art, nor am i sure if instagram is the platform i’d like to display it - but for the rest of the year i will be dropping daily pics & stories of my 2019 adventures (:
let me start off by saying this day in particular was one of those “life changing” days... it was a tuesday evening on the top of moro rock, deep in the heart of sequoia national park, california. i had just spent the past weekend camping outside of yosemite, enjoying some local hot springs, malibu drinks & a few relaxing down days before starting my 5th week on the road. 7pm had just rolled around as the sun was setting & only a few of us, who had ventured the 400 stone step climb, were left scattered within the barrier of poles that helped protect visitors from falling over the edges. it was in those fleeting moments of time, that i discovered what it truly felt like to be alive.
now i know many people have argued both sides of the, “what does it mean to be alive” debate, as everyone’s opinion & life experiences are quite diverse... but i’d like to put in my two cents real quick. throughout this past year of travels, i have learned that being alive is one thing, i mean you’re breathing right now while reading this, so hi, youre alive 👍. but living, like positively living, is something so drastically different that there should be another word for those who feel ALIVE.
as i sat there watching the sun fall behind mountains of the san joaquin valley, i remember physically feeling so fulfilled by everything around me. i was overjoyed by the sights i could see near & far, the noises of the forests to the east & west of me; & i distinctively remember the cool soft autumn air that was slowly, but surely, sneaking into the small gap of space made in between my skin & sweatshirt that gave me chills every time i lifted up my camera to take a shot.
how did i get here? how did i climb this rock on a september evening, spending sunset with other adventurers who seemed just as in awe by the 360° view we were all so lucky to have... it was moments later when i finally recognized what i had done to reach such a defining point in my life. i felt my body tingling & my smile getting wider. i felt, what seemed impossible at the time (more on that later), the earth coming together - the moon rising behind me as the sun was setting in front of me. when i felt this, my brain stopped for a second to acknowledge where i was & who i was.
it was then, on that rock, at that time, where i felt everything fall into place. i knew all the hours working a m-f desk job, all the days of planning (& replanning, as i wasn’t expecting to do this journey alone) & packing, all the miles driven alone from one side of the country to the other, & memories with people I had previously met or visited along my way - all of it made me draw my own conclusion of, “what it means to be alive.”
side note: i do not expect many to understand what im trying to say, as my description of the actual feeling is quite vague & i have not written in awhile, but i implore you to find your own definition of the word, “alive” & what it means & f-e-e-l-s to be just that.
