Getting outside in nature is good for the soul

I spent the last two weeks by the ocean and finally got the chance to visit Seoraksan National Park. Being outside in nature has been a wonderful cure for the fear of the unknown that I've been sitting with, as discussed in my last post. It's hard to care about much when you're facing the ocean that seems to go on forever. How tiny and insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. It's almost comical to think that whatever challenge or uncertainty we're experiencing at that particular moment in time could be more important than the fact we get to live in a world as beautiful as the one we inhabit and take for granted everyday.

Korea has some of the best public infrastructure I've ever seen--whether its the highly efficient and widespread public transportation system, or the plentiful, clean public bathrooms in most public spaces. However, I was really blown away by the development and infrastructure leading up to Seoraksan National Park. Somehow, they've managed to build entire communities with homes, farms, restaurants, parks, convenience stores right into this huge mountain. And the fact that we could comfortably take a 20-minute bus right up to the park entrance was also mind-blowing. I was also impressed by the cable car that could fit 25+ people, carrying us even higher into the mountains. It struck me as we were gliding up the cables that we're one of the luckiest generations to be living in this moment in time with this kind of infrastructure that allows us to go up a mountain that people hundreds of years ago could have only dreamt of seeing.

I'm guilty of complaining about how we live in one of the worst times in human history (think racism, wealth inequality, injustice, climate disaster, and so on). But, we also live in one of the best times, experiencing things that our ancestors couldn't even have imagined would be possible. I have ancestors from North Korea who probably never had a fully belly, let alone an opportunity to try food from another country. What has created all of the bad stuff (i.e., capitalism, technology, disease, and greed) is also the reason we have all the good stuff (ability to travel, culture, infrastructure, delicious food).

Being outside and breathing in fresh air is one of the surest ways to ground ourselves. In times of challenge, unknowing, and deep emotional angst, spending time in nature is a way to reconnect to a truth that many of us forget in the busyness of everyday life. We come from the earth and we return to the earth. We are just visitors momentarily taking on the the physical form of human beings during a blink of the universe's eye. In the context of the universe, we are as dazzling as the stars that decorate the night sky and as precious as each wave that kisses the beach. Each of us plays a role in this world. We can't articulate the role that each specific bee plays in a beehive or the purpose of each tree in a rainforest, leading me to question whether or not we really need to know. All we can be certain of is that the whole system works because of each of us, doing our best, in our corner of the world. If that's enough for the universe, why shouldn't it be enough for us?