For all the years of my life I have been connected with nature in one way or another. It has been a part of me through the years and as I mature my love for it seems to grow. For peace and quiet I use the beautiful scenery of a sunset or a long walk down my wooded road to ease my mind. With the company of nature and the harmony of the environment that surrounds us I am able to relieve daily stresses.

I interact with nature every summer by simply jumping in the lake to go for a swim or going on a camping trip with friends and family. Camping is one of my favorite ways to be apart of nature because of the resources available to make a fire and grill out. A campfire in the woods has a specific scent that I love; it comes with the feeling of being able to utilize only the things around me. Every winter I go outside and play in the snow or go sledding down the hill in my backyard. The memories gained with my cousins and sisters playing and laughing are unforgettable. The scenery is breathtaking on days when the white snow caps the top of the trees and glistens in the sun. At night when the rain falls, I stay silent and listen to the repetitive drops hitting my window. The sound has a sense of comfort and spreads a tranquil feeling around me.

I believe it is important to have a relationship with nature because it’s a wonderful part of you in which god created. Nature is for us to enjoy and utilize. Tucked back in the woods surrounded by only a few houses and many trees is my home where I once took for granted the silence from the city life and traffic. The only sounds available are the songs from birds chirping and the whistling of the winds or the air blowing through the trees. City life takes away from the true beauty that surrounds us and covers up what god has made with buildings and highways filled with cars. In this life, there is no time for a slowdown. You can’t take time to step out on your porch to see the woods and breathe in the fresh air because it doesn’t exist there. There may be things in the city that you can’t experience here, but I would choose the clean air, the woods, the animals and the company of nature over the city life any day.

It is important for me interact and hold a relationship with nature because many things come and go in my life but nature is always right out my front door. When I leave to clear my head and think about my life, nature is the outlet for my problems, hates and frustrations. When I release these feeling no worries can come, because they do not spread, they stay where they have been left. I believe the role of nature is to keep the secrets that may fall among it and in return my role is to keep and hold the company of nature close and make sure that I always know it is there to use it as an advantage.

I think that nature is a privilege that is easily taken for granted. Now, I appreciate the beauty and the trust that it holds inside. I recognize how fortunate we are to surround ourselves with company that is so wonderful and always will be there listening to us. Forgetting about these luxuries is common, but every once in a while we need to just stop, take a breath, look around, and remember how amazing it feels to have everything nature brings into our lives. So when you need some time away from the real world remember these simple steps.