Since I am from the south shore of Long Island I always have associated nature with the beach. Whether it is in the dead of winter or the heat of the summer, the beach has always been a place where I can try to slow down my thoughts and just listen to the waves. Similar to the poem we read in class on Monday, these moments don’t always last very long. I feel like my mind is constantly moving with 1,000 thoughts running through it so I find it extremely hard to let it go blank for an extended period of time.

I find it fascinating that nature is and seems to always have been a place for humans to take a step back and reflect on their lives in relation to the broader picture of life. Whether it be a beach, top of a mountain or in the middle of the rainforest– what is it about nature that makes humans feel and think this way? Part of me thinks that being part of the larger and interconnected ecosystem of the Earth connects us to these landscapes. Deep down our bodies and minds know that we came from the same molecules and particles that this land did. So is that why when I float in the ocean and when I listen to the rhythm of the crashing waves, I am soothed, forget my racing thoughts and reflect on the bigger questions of life? But why is it that when I walk on a patch of grass I don’t feel this way? Is it because we are now trained to think like this when a landscape seems sublime?

Maybe I’ll never know these answers but I like to toy with them and remember that my problems are so small compared to what surrounds me and has been around for billions of years before me. It is humbling but also frightening but somehow I am okay with that.

Here are two photos of beaches that I have taken and that are personally my favorite.

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