I’ve seen these mountains countless times. I’ve made this drive hundreds. I still get butterflies.
Look around you: at your house or your town or your state. Do you love it? Are you tired of it? Do you not even notice it anymore as you drive on auto pilot from work to home and back again? I encourage you to rub your eyes (figuratively, my mom says it’s bad if you do it too much) and take a fresh look. Notice the trees and the pretty flowers, even in the parking lot. Admire the beauty of the expansive fields or the rolling hills. Let the height of the mountains take your breath away. Study the architecture of the buildings and dive into the historic attributes you may not even know!
I live a few minutes away from Grand Teton National Park. Every time I drive into the sight of those mountains I am moved to tears at remembering my first couple times ever seeing them. There is truly nothing like them and that feeling I refuse to ever let slip through my memories and get forgotten.
Driving with a friend the other day, he mentioned how he doesn’t feel the spark of joy anymore. He looks at the mountains and just kind of shrugs, thinking “yeah, I know, I’ve seen it all before”. It honestly broke my heart a little. I can’t imagine living in a paradise such as this and not having butterflies as I gaze at the beauty God shaped for our enjoyment.
Just because I live in the mountains doesn’t mean other places can’t be beautiful. My brother’s driveway in Georgia is another favorite of mine. A single dirt road and thousands of tall tress, that’s my kind of retreat. Even driving through Kansas, I was warned numerous times to avoid the state all together because, “there is literally nothing. For miles. And hours. NOTHING.” and I was immediately enamored with the beauty of the lush green fields and hills that framed the biggest, bluest sky I’ve ever seen.
All I’m saying is please please please don’t take for granted what is around you. Log out of Facebook and go for a walk. Take a stroll in some local shops downtown. Hike to a new lake or mountain top. Go for a swim in the lake nearby. String up your hammock and fall asleep to the sight of the Milky Way and the billions of stars. Make it a priority to focus on the world that surrounds you and the place (or places) that are the backdrop to the story of you.
“You can never get enough of nature. To be surrounded by it is to be stilled. It salves the heart. The mountains, the trees, the endless plains. The moon, the myriad of stars. Every man can be made quiet and complete.” –Arthur Burns, The Proposition.
If you’re truly unimpressed with where you are, then move. You are not a tree. But I will bet you there is beauty wherever you may be, if you just take a moment to really look for it.
Xo,
Lauren