The Nature of Things

It's easy to get caught up in all things human. Our jobs, our cars, our homes, our I-Pods, our cell phones, our PlayStations, we make quite a dent on our Earth and it's easy to get consumed by all that we create around us.

But it doesn't take much more than a morning drive on an isolated country road to remind us that there is something much bigger at work, bigger than all the human things we most often fill up our attention on.

It's a big part of the reason that I've always been drawn to the beach. The ocean is so immense, so mysterious, so monumental. It can pick us up like it picks up a grain of sand and toss us about. It's humbling.

We think we're pretty special, pretty important. In the big picture, we're a grain of sand.

Getting closer to nature, has always helped put things in perspective for me, to not forget the big picture and to not get consumed in my own self, which is much easier said than done.

That's why I like living one block from the Susquehanna River. It's not as mighty as the ocean. But it can still make a man feel very small - humble. It's there for me as a constant reminder.

When I was riding my bike everyday, the rides almost always included a stop at the boat launch where I could stop for a moment and just be reminded of the bigger scheme of life beyond my own. I would see a lot more on a bike, than I would ever see in a car.

Sometimes it's nice to slow down and take notice to the bigger picture, beyond that which we've made, beyond McDonald's, beyond sports, beyond a bikini wax.