Paige Bier_23 Sept._Natural Setting I: The Shenandoah

This past weekend, I stayed in a lodge overlooking Skyline Drive that stretches across the Shenandoah Mountains. As mentioned in previous blog posts, the Shenandoah Mountains have been referred to as a “sacred place”. First, I want to define what it means to be in a “natural setting”. Natural means “existing in or formed by nature” and setting means “the place and conditions in which something happens or exists”; therefore, it must be a place formed by nature in which something happens or exists. The lodge I stayed in sits upon a bed of green grass behind a creek that runs through the mountains. I was able to walk to the highest hill of where the lodge was located to see the mountain ranges stretch across for miles. I saw birds flying in the sky and the clouds never seemed so close. In this natural setting, I felt completely stress-free. When I am in this natural setting, I am not thinking of anything but the nature that surrounds me. The trees that line the mountain, the grass that creates a field between the trees, the dirt that is the foundation, the birds and the breeze as the only noise, those are the things that grasp my attention. In this natural setting, I become aware of the simple things in nature that I walk past each day. The sense of freedom and independence I receive in these mountains are not delivered by a regular setting, such as my college apartment. The reason this natural setting is so significant is because it allows for me to escape my every day worries and it reminds me of the bigger picture of life—that Earth is a temporary assignment.