Nature & Healing

Untitled - Owen

The end of summer 2021 was a time I felt at peace, and supported. It was a nearly perfect month, from the middle of July to the middle of August. A group of people working together and supporting each other.

This summer I was living in a cabin with 13 other people for a month. Early on in the month we went on a backpacking trip on the Superior Hiking Trail. It was late enough that we knew each other, but early enough that there was more to get to know.

The hiking trip was four days in past years, but because of the drought last summer we had to cut it to three shorter days so we could stay hydrated and healthy. That also meant that a lot of the trip would be walked along superior, which would be a beautiful place to walk. All of this together meant our trip would be very easy relative to how they had been in the past.

The first day was only about one and a half miles of hiking after the drive to get to the trail. Of course as soon as we started and even in the van driving up, everyone was complaining. This is to be expected of 12 16 and 17 year old boys to some extent, but it was unrelenting. Complaints about being hungry, not wanting to walk, etc. On a less than two mile hike.

Our counselors, one in particular that was leading the group, were getting pretty visibly and obviously annoyed with the complaints. He had explained that since it was a short hike, we would eat when we reached the campsite, we would get there around lunch anyway. People kept complaining regardless, and he was not happy about it.

This obviously is supposed to be a story about a safe and supportive community, so something has to change from the way things are. But our leader stayed annoyed and the complainers kept complaining. It stayed pretty dang annoying for a while.

At what I’m guessing was about 10am on our second day, we stopped at a beautiful rock beach on superior. This was about the halfway point on both the day, and the trip. Again it was a very short trip so people weren’t super tired, but we stopped and laid on the beach for what must have been over an hour.

For the first time in the week or so we’d been together, and the two days we’d been on trail, it felt like everyone was getting along. Everyone was happy with everyone else, and it was due to the fact that everyone was calmed by the environment. It was perfect and calm and the scene was amazing. The important part was no one was expecting more than another person could give.

In that hour or 90 minutes it was apparent that everyone that was complaining knew that what they had been complaining about couldn’t be fixed, they could help each other get threw something hard, or they could just do nothing but time and again they chose to bring other people’s experience down for no one's benefit.

The way people interact can and should fundamentally change for a lot of people. Helping for the sake of making someone else better and yourself the same, rather than complaining to make yourself the same, and someone else worse. What can spark that change is a break from the pressure and stress. A moment for people to catch their breath and realize that they need to relook at their situation. Realize that they can’t have what isn’t there, but theycan share what is.

Background is of a snowy mountain. An image of an orange cat with its tongue out and another cat staring straight. The middle image between the cats is "one 4 kids tv."

Waterfalls in the background with images of the sun, moon, and other waterfall."

A car with a shirt on the bottom, umbrella on top, along with other items scattered about in front of a blue wave-like lines. Text that reads, "This drawing is of my perfect summer day. We have my own car to show freedom and have the windows down because thats what I prefer. There is a boombox and pizza to represent the joy that music and food gives me. Theres a shirt to represent fashion and a smile wheel to show pure happiness. I got a fire and a umbrella to show the beach at day and the beach at night. We also have a picture of the sky at night and day showing the perfect weather. I filled all voids with blue because I find it to be the best color and can always put a smile on my face."

Text that reads, "Part 1. After a long stressful day of school filled with exams and presentations I went to sleep. This was not a regular sleep session though I felt incredibly exhausted, this led me to sleep 11 hours. After not belong able to sleep well for the past month due to school and other commitments, I essentially forgot."

Text that reads, "Part 2. Following my rest I proceeded to go to school as normal but felt happier, aware, and attentive to people around me. This helped me understand just how important sleep and rest in general is. I was more interested in what I was learning and drew connections from my real life experiences which helped my feel more emerged in the classroom."

Text that reads, "Part 3. I encourage you to rest. I encourage you to structure your schedule in a way that allows you to rest. I encourage you to advocate for yourself and others so resting throughout your day is normal."

For games on my no sim card samsung - Chloe

this playlist is a brief summary of songs i would listen to while playing my favorite game, minecraft. whenever i listen to one of these songs it shoots me back to that time of childhood joy :)

A collage of Teresa hiking, the nature, sitting at a picnic table, fish, the forest with text that reads, "My Heart."

A collage of Teresa hiking, the nature, sitting at a picnic table, fish, the forest with text that reads, "I feel supported and at peace when I go on fishing trips with my dad. In 2020 I was struggling with the grief of my friends death. I felt really depressed and didn't know how to help myself. My dad stepped in and planned a trip to Wyoming. On that trip I didn't have any service so I read a few books, took naps, hiked, fished, and looked at the stars by the fire. It was exactly what I needed to start healing. To create more moments like this we have to take care of each other. When people in your life are struggling be there for them. After that trip we continued to go on these trips together. The trips continued to make me whole again. My dad was committed to being there for me. We need to not only take care of each other but be committed to it."

This a playlist of Quran I listened to.The story behind this is during the pandemic most people were down or just mentally in a bad place. During this time i started to get into my faith more to get through this hards times and i did this by reading and listening to quran which made my mind and soul feel at peace whenever i listen to it.This made my pandemic easier and made me get through those hard times.It made me also feel like a better person and made me accomplish things.

ACTION STEPS:

1. What made this possible was having a device and actually wanting change in my life.

2. I learnt that a belief in something can make you feel at peace and get you through hard times.

3. I could listen to quran daily our times when i'm not myself to get to a peaceful state.

4. People can experience this by listening to our reading to what they believe in like a torah our bible our etc also listening to podcast about finding inner peace our actually doing activities like mediation our breathing.

A collage that shows nature, the fiver, lake, people dancing, concerts with text that reads, "Peaceful moments. These are all times I have felt safe and at peace. Nature. To just take a moment. Concerts. To get my anger out. Friends. Dance. To connect with myself. These different places make me feel at peace in different ways."

Inner Peace - Warsame

Listen to a student's playlist of peace

A collage showing a willow tree, an airplane, giraffe, couch, European architecture, a lounge chair, and text that reads, "How are you? The Comfort to Heal From Within."

EDIBLE FUDGE POPS - Milo

Songs to lift your spirits. This is a story about the first time I hung out with my friend who I had a crush on. I made a playlist to represent my different thoughts and emotions through the hangout. It starts out with the song “For the First Time” by Mac Demarco. I added this because it was the first time we were hanging out and I thought it was fitting. Then I added ”Talking to the Moon” by Bruno Mars because this was when we were talking during the first part of the hangout. As the hangout progressed we started to become more comfortable with each other and started sharing funny stories so I added “Flashing Lights” by Kanye West. One specific part of the hangout I remember is when my friend got aux and they played “Flex” by Playboi Carti. This was one of my favorite songs. Then I added “Thinking Bout You” by Frank Ocean because after the hangout all I could think about was them. Then to finish it off I added “You and Me” by Penny & The Quarters to symbolize us.