#NatureWritingChallenge Topic: A person who helped inspire your love of public lands. Check out the challenge here.
(Note: Rules for this challenge include writing, unfiltered, on the topic for no more than one hour. Please forgive typos and incomplete thoughts 😊)
Inspiration:
My love of public lands was born of a desire to get away from the daily grind for a bit and to see a new and different place. Then the desire to travel became a discovery of a neat hobby that I could enjoy with the man that would become my husband. We shared an excitement for researching the units of the National Park system that we could explore and collect passport stamps. The discovery of this hobby turned into a quest to make it to each of the over 400 units managed by the National Park Service. Then that quest developed into awe and admiration for our parks, the people that work to keep them, and the history and natural beauty that they preserve.
That being said, it is easy for me to identify that my husband, Jason, helped to inspire my love of public lands. He was the one that picked up our first Passport to the National Parks that in turn became the (rewarding) obsession we share with each other: to spend our free time on the roads between our home and the cherished places around this beautiful country of ours, and to explore the beautiful and unique aspects of each one.
I think that inspiration comes from a place of openness and wiliness to go where the winds may guide you. As I reflect on the meaning of inspiration, I find this common thread in all of planning and visits to the parks: that we start out picking a park or region, many times a place that we know absolutely nothing about, and that through researching the area, the history, and things to do, we become increasingly inspired to keep discovering more. In our case, inspiration feeds inspired action… and getting out to enjoy the parks and historical places that we have the bounty of exploring truly feeds the soul!
77 words on inspiration in action:
The National Park Service celebrated its 100 year anniversary on August 25, 2016. The day before (August 24) of the same year, Jason and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary – traditionally “the leather anniversary”. Instead of giving me a gift of leather, Jason handed me a beautiful and personal card, and shared that instead of taking from nature a gift of leather, he made a donation to the National Park Foundation in celebration of our “shared” anniversaries.
A quick meta comment:
One thing that I love about the act of sharing that Jason inspired my love of public lands is the fact that inspiring me to love our parks was not his goal. We were (and still are) both journeying together in our discovery of the parks. Neither one of us a public lands expert. Both enjoying the ride and companionship of the other.
Before my hour expires (#rules 😊 ), I want to share something actionable as a result of my ramblings: be open to being inspired, regardless of the form in which it comes! Inspiration may not be delivered by an expert, it may come from a trusted companion or partner that is willing to be open and walk the path of discovery with you. And once you are inspired, just go with it! Your life will be changed (and arguably improved) by throwing caution to the wind and discovering for yourself the beauty that lies around unspoken and overlooked places in this country.
(Ugh… writing something meaningful in an hour is HARD!!! (but fun 😉))
Your turn… who is a person that inspired your love of public lands? Feel free to drop me a line or share in the comment section below.
