Stargazing offers perspective

Monica Clark/Staff Writer

The ground is solid beneath your body. It presses into you letting you know that you are there existing. The whole sky stretches in every direction and stars seem to blaze in brightness.

Looking at the stars in the openness of the country is like nothing else.

There’s a certain peacefulness and serenity that fills me whenever I spread out and gaze up at the stars.

The first time I saw the ocean, I couldn’t tear myself away. I couldn’t get enough of the smell, the taste of salt on my tongue and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach.

Whenever I look at the sky, I get that same feeling. It feels like home.

All of us, and me included, feel the pressures of everyday life. We are constantly on the go.

We do the laundry, clean our rooms, go to school, go to sports practices, go to work, come home late at night, and do homework. The next day?

Repeat. All of us get in the same routine of trying to get everything done.

We try to find the quickest outlet to everything. We need the fastest phones, fastest computers, fastest cars; fastest everything. We never ask for the slowest.

But maybe we should be asking for the slow. Maybe we should step back and look at the big picture and get away from all the distractions and worries for at least a little.

Drive your car to the country; take your time and open your window.

Find a quiet spot to just enjoy the obscure beauty. Realizing that you are a part of a huge universe can help put things into perspective.

Take some of that peace back with you; hold it close to your heart and know that nature is all around you all the time. You just have to look.