I Don’t Have to Leave Home

When I moved back to the States in 2022, I got here not knowing if I’d ever be able to do simple things like work a steady job ever again. I never thought a year later my health would be well enough to try traveling again.

It was rough.

But it was healing.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned from living abroad was how much I took my own country for granted. We have so many problems here, but we also have so much opportunity. We have so much vast land that desperately needs, not just protection, but adequate stewardship. And a deeper appreciation.

I’ve seen so many things in the world, but nothing has ever knocked the wind out of me like driving into Valley of the Gods for the first time. It’s easy to feel small looking up into the night sky, or even at the vast ocean, but to stand on solid ground and see forever in all directions nothing but immense rock formations and canyons and endless horizons.

We are such small things, and we do not respect that enough.

Go outside and play in the dirt.