Climbing isn’t my favorite, but it is quite enjoyable, so watching other people climb and push themselves makes me happy.
We were all at Wall Street the other day and as I saw the other people climbing, it inspired me. It inspires me to see people push themselves to keep going, like when they climb. I personally like to keep my feet on the ground, but seeing people keep taking steps up a wall is amazing, it looks so difficult to keep trying to climb upward but they still keep going up. It makes me feel that I can change how I view things that I would label as too difficult, changing my view so that I can do whatever it is as long as I work hard enough at it.
Hiking today gave me a chance to look at the beautiful rock formations that were surrounding me, and I really loved it. I was standing in front of this 200ft tall sheet of rock, and it dumbfounded me. Next to it was this amazing pillar that was beautiful, every little bit of it was beautiful. Nature is an art that can never be recreated in beauty, no matter how hard you try, and you cannot experience that beauty without being there in nature. But you can appreciate every little bit around you, even if it is just a simple tree in your yard.
I really love art. During the trip we started to sketch the environment around us, and from my love of Bob Ross I ate it up. It challenged me to draw something realistic for the first time in a while. The first thing I drew was a rock, just a simple rock, and it was so difficult, but I loved the entire process. Shading the darker parts of it was easy, but trying to differentiate the red rock and orange rock in black and white truly pushed me. Next I drew a mountain, and that was easy but so fun. My love for Bob Ross has blessed me with a keen ability to draw mountains.
All in all, this trip has been so much fun, and it has given me a chance to mentally reset and get my bearings before school starts back up.
-Connor Rutledge