nature.

This afternoon (Sunday Dec. 7), I climbed to the top of a huge dirt hill at the top of my driveway without shoes on, and sat laid on my back in the dirt for approximately 40 minutes. It's a steep hill, and bits of its mustard-colored, dry, chalky surface crumbled as I stumbled up its side. There was nothing special about this hill. It was dry, with lots of small, brittle brush-like plants and soft, powdery dust beneath my bare-feet. So there I was, laying and thinking.

When I first got there, I hesitated. Lay? 

In the dirt? Ew. But I knew if I sat, I would fidget, move until I got comfortable, become uncomfortable again, move again, get distracted. Anyone who knows me well can tell you how easily I get lost focus from something I should be doing,

especially if it doesn't really interest me. I also knew if I laid down, I could look up at the sky. So I just thought "oh well" and did it. I could shower later, wash my clothes, who cared? It weird as it sounds, it was refreshing to be in the dirt. Gross, sure, but kind of liberating.

It was really hard for a while not to think about anything that I experienced over the weekend or would soon have to this coming week, but I tried to avoid the superficial, arguably

 meaningless events and just think instead about the deeper, significant lessons behind them. I personally have an especially difficult time just clearing my mind completely; there is always something there that will creep into my head and won't let me just, be. This weekend had been an especially

 stressful, long, and emotionally involved one, so I had a really hard time making sure I didn't dwell on those things, and not letting them affect me when I was up there on that hill. I found myself questioning my priorities, and society's definition of what your priorities should be. I thought about where I factor into my own priorities. I guess you can say I thought about a lot.

Overall, it was nice to clear my mind. Thank you, Nature.