Hello again!
It's been a long while since I've written here last. Let me begin with saying that the month of September flew by. To update you, I returned to University for my final year, so things have been more than hectic mentally and physically. This is the one thing I've always struggled with: finding a balance. It's easy to say that you can just get up earlier or stay up later, or use your lunch break at work to write a paper, but we all know that's not always how life works. I find myself constantly battling, always trying to figure out the best way to budget my time. Priories become less important when you're running on a few hours of sleep, you have an essay due at midnight and you have work in the morning. Then, throw friendships, relationships and playing with your dog in the mix and twenty-four hours just doesn't seem like enough. And sometimes it isn't. But I do know that the most important thing is taking care of me first, and doing things that make me feel good. Things that help clear my mind and really focus. For me that has always been going outside.
It's interesting that I crave the outdoors when I really don't have time for them, like during midterms. It's hard to deny the fall foliage when you have to meet graduation requirements (joking, I think.) mostly in this time of stress, I need to allow myself a reset, something a little more than just a weekend away or day trip. So off to Shenandoah National Park I went.
Shenandoah has always been special to me, there's something about your first National Park and a real set of mountains that stays with you. I first visited years ago, and it was my first real glimpse into road-tripping that I'd ever experienced. Though I've been back many times now, the feeling of seeing the Blue Ridge in the distance never changes, and it still makes me feel so small. This time felt just a little different for me though, as I stepped onto the trail again as a different person.
I even re-did hikes that I've done before and they felt different, too. But I know that the park hadn't changed, I had. As time flies by and the holidays are fast approaching, I see the importance of taking the time to slow down and enjoy my surroundings. These next few days I didn't have any work responsibilities, I didn't have class to get to, and I didn't have to look at my phone. But I did have the view to look at, and it was amazing.
It's been a long while since I've written here last. Let me begin with saying that the month of September flew by. To update you, I returned to University for my final year, so things have been more than hectic mentally and physically. This is the one thing I've always struggled with: finding a balance. It's easy to say that you can just get up earlier or stay up later, or use your lunch break at work to write a paper, but we all know that's not always how life works. I find myself constantly battling, always trying to figure out the best way to budget my time. Priories become less important when you're running on a few hours of sleep, you have an essay due at midnight and you have work in the morning. Then, throw friendships, relationships and playing with your dog in the mix and twenty-four hours just doesn't seem like enough. And sometimes it isn't. But I do know that the most important thing is taking care of me first, and doing things that make me feel good. Things that help clear my mind and really focus. For me that has always been going outside.
It's interesting that I crave the outdoors when I really don't have time for them, like during midterms. It's hard to deny the fall foliage when you have to meet graduation requirements (joking, I think.) mostly in this time of stress, I need to allow myself a reset, something a little more than just a weekend away or day trip. So off to Shenandoah National Park I went.
Shenandoah has always been special to me, there's something about your first National Park and a real set of mountains that stays with you. I first visited years ago, and it was my first real glimpse into road-tripping that I'd ever experienced. Though I've been back many times now, the feeling of seeing the Blue Ridge in the distance never changes, and it still makes me feel so small. This time felt just a little different for me though, as I stepped onto the trail again as a different person.
I even re-did hikes that I've done before and they felt different, too. But I know that the park hadn't changed, I had. As time flies by and the holidays are fast approaching, I see the importance of taking the time to slow down and enjoy my surroundings. These next few days I didn't have any work responsibilities, I didn't have class to get to, and I didn't have to look at my phone. But I did have the view to look at, and it was amazing.
Some of these photos were taken via iphone, some on my Canon T6
"I marvel at the trees, how their leaves change colors and fall off. I realize the biggest lesson I must learn from autumn is how to gracefully let go." -foreveragoboniversemma on tumblr
