So we’re well into June, and I’m sure you all are itching to go on vacations or at least get outside (once it stops raining). I’m getting ready to leave on a vacation of my own, and the preparation has got me reminiscing about a once-in-a-lifetime experience I had two years ago.
Acadia National Park, Maine
I say “once-in-a-lifetime” not because the trip itself was one I’ll never be able to take again, but because the experience was one that cannot ever be repeated. That is, the wonder and inspiration I felt on that fateful outing in the Summer of 2011 touched me so deeply that I think it changed who I was as a person. I believe that this trip was the distinct experience that sparked my passion for the outdoors. There’s something about the place that made me feel more in-tune with nature than I had ever felt before. Perhaps it was the powerful yet serene ever-presence of the island’s massive forest. Or maybe it was the liveliness of the frigid coastal waters. It could very well have been the giant granite boulders that completely comprised the coast of the park’s popular Otter Point. Ultimately, I’m certain that something about the nature of Acadia triggered a dormant passion that had always lied deep within, waiting to be ignited.
The suburbs of Southern California, wherefrom I hail, could only every stifle that passion – and the same can be said of a city like Roanoke. Even the local escapes of Smith Mountain Lake, McAffee’s Knob, or the Cascades couldn’t instill the same sense of awe in me that Acadia did. For someone from New York, perhaps an outing to McAffee’s or Dragonstooth could provide that life-changing experience – but not for someone who is already so familiar with the area. I think it takes a truly uprooting experience of venturing out into a completely unknown and natural territory to really open an individual up and give them a new perspective on life. The simplest way I can describe is getting totally aimlessly lost… just so you can find yourself along the way.
New Outlooks
I’m of the mindset that we’re only here for a little while before we’re gone for good, and yet we tend to waste too much time waiting for tomorrow. It’s a truly stifling pattern that I think too many of us are guilty of – I, regretfully, certainly am. This grim reality makes these adventures that much more beautiful, though. A trip to an exotic island paradise is only special if you’re not originally from another exotic island paradise, right? My point is, transcendental experiences like the one I took to Maine are so greatly appreciated because they lift you up. Your only jobs are to seize the opportunities to enjoy your life while you still can, and keep yourself from crashing back down once you return home. Because if you can find something in nature that inspires you… and you can maintain the gravity of this inspiration, then great things are bound to continually happen – and you alone will be the agent responsible for this greatness.
