hiking

I realized yesterday that I love hiking so much because it feels so poetic. With each step, each contact between my body and the earth underneath me feels like a note to a song I could never put words to.

Often, when you start a hike, you know where you are going but aren’t sure how you will get there. You don’t know what each new turn will bring — sometimes it is an unexpectedly breathtaking view, while other times it is a harrowing, intimidating incline.

But what I think I like most is knowing that I can move no faster than my feet will take me. I like the patience it requires, probably because I lack this patience in most other aspects of my life. It reminds me that, while sometimes the journey feels long and slow, the destination always makes it worth it. It also reminds me that it is not each step that matters in the end, but rather the combination of all the steps and where they take you.

In my life, I tend to feel caught up in wanting to see the destination before I get there. I want the view without the mountain.

But the mountain is what makes the view beautiful.

And I think that’s lovely, knowing that hard times can bring better times.