Monday Inspiration: Connectiveness

"Oh the places you will go..." Dr. Seuss

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah May 2013

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah 2013

I am finally back from my whirlwind road trip! Well ok I got back last week but between work and what not, I havent really havent had any free time. So it goes. I plan talking more about my trip but today is about inspiration and connectiveness.

I took a class this spring about global environmental history. In it we read a book about Humboldt who was an explorer during the 19th century. There is a lot named after in the west since this was mainly where he explored. His idea was based on the premise of the cosmos, that everything is connected. That we, as humans, are not a separate entity when it comes to nature but rather we a part of it. In this book it talks about Humboldt County in Nevada. I was able to drive through in the beginning on our trip, and no worries you aren't missing much. It is basically a lot of nothingness. 

At least that was my first thought, nothingness. But by looking at it again it is more than nothingness but rather everything. It was such a large open space that it is almost impossible to understand the hugeness of being just a small person in this large world. 

You can land for miles and miles. At this point in the trip I was driving and D was sleeping in the passenger seat. It was very calming, to see the vast land and understand the small part you play.

But then you look at the flip side. The above picture we took at the end of our trip at Bryce Canyon National Park.* Inspiration Point was one of the areas where you could go and overlook the park, it was absolutely  magnificent. And I started to think about what inspires me? I thought of books and music that I have encountered in my life but then the question started to morph into who inspires me. Because it is one thing to be inspired by the land around you, it makes you look at yourself, the role you play in this large world. But when you look at the people around you, those who inspire you every day, you start to see how everything really is connected. 

Some days it seems that you are only a small person in a large nothingness. And other days you look at the people who bring smiles you to your, who inspire you to be a better person, you begin to see how you are a vital part in this crazy big world that at times can see too big to handle. 

This week I ask, who or what inspires you?

*Ever since I have taken this National Parks class I just want to visit all the parks!! Which is hard because there is almost 500 different park units in the U.S. Maybe one day....

I leave you today with a quiet song....

"but we all walk blindy when we stagger and we strut 
and we're all dealt the hands with the cards of our luck 
and we all bow down silent
 and the words are awe struck 
by the shameless light of the broken afternoon"