The Simple Pleasures

A few months ago an ex-boyfriend of mine asked me if I had been blocking information from him on my Facebook page.  I was a little bit shocked by this question... I mean, don't get me wrong, he had his own reasons for thinking that I'd block things.  This wasn't what shocked me.  It was the fact that it had only been about 2, maybe 3 days, since I had posted something.  Really?  I go off the radar for only a few days and it sparks this sort of reaction.  This was troublesome.  I like Facebook and all but I don't want that to be what people associate me with.  So it got me thinking... What did I enjoy before social media and how did I spend my time?

I had a reuniting experience with free time recently.  My cousin and I took a trip to Colorado to go backpacking.  True backpacking, not the kind where you camp next to your car and cook on a grill.  This was exactly what I needed to get my head back on right.  This is exactly what the trip did.

I am a mountain girl at heart and I wish there was a better way to explain it but "mountain girl" is just the best way.  Driving into the mountains always instills a sense of peace in my heart.  My first glimpse of a shadowy range in the distance makes my heart skip a beat, like I was in jr. high again and my crush smiled at me.  By the time I'm fully immersed in the trees and rocks (and oftentimes snow) I feel like I was transported into some alternate universe...a universe where I'm always happy.  Even if something goes wrong or an argument ensues, I just look at the mountains and nothing else matters.  I imagine that is what inner peace is.  The sensation of being able to so greatly appreciate life at that particular moment that nothing can really ruin it for you.

The truth is, sensations like that make you realize what you really enjoy in life.  The trip to Colorado was refreshing because I was detached; because I couldn't rely on my television, computer or cell phone to entertain me. The last full day in Colorado we had nothing planned.  So without electronic forms of entertainment I began the day.  I sat on a log and I wrote in my journal about our summit day, the hike in to camp and the bear who had been raiding camps the past two weeks.  Then, I'd look up at the mountains and the lake.  I read my book, and not just so I could fall asleep that night, but I read because I had all the time in the world to do it.  I stared at the lake some more, watched my dog chase random animals and bark at other hikers and I went on a walk around the lake...just because.  I just enjoyed the simplicity in it all.

Even those days in the mountains cannot completely strip away the convenience of a tv show or the enjoyment of seeing a friend's post on facebook...but they do help give clarity and priority to the things in life that you forgot you enjoyed.  I love to to walk, to run, ski, hike and admire landscape.  I love to read books (yes, for fun) and journal about travels so that I don't forget them.  I love to play cards with family.  I love a challenge...even if it does scare me.  I love the things (like stupid giant rocks) that push me to work harder.  Above all of that, I enjoy being outside and while I'd always prefer to be outside in the mountains, I can still appreciate being outside in Lubbock even if its just so I can feel the sun and take my dog on a walk.