Nature
Since the day that I came to this world, I have spent most of my time in big cities. Like everybody, I was always doing my work and worrying about running out of time. My living environment is so crowded of people and buildings that nobody really aware of other living things except themselves. Everything happened extremely fast, and nobody wants to take his or her time off. At that time, I felt like a heavy burden was on my shoulder, and I have to carry it or the rest of my life. Struggle to survive is my daily routine. Also, I felt I am being stressed too because my belief ‘survival the fittest’ told me that if I don’t work hard, you are going to get crushed miserably sooner or later in your life. I held this perspective for a ling time until I as 12. During that year, my class had a field trip called "outward bound". It is this field trip that drives me to look at my life differently, which give me a new meaning of life.
The outward is about a week. In the first day, we had to ride a bus, which took us to an extremely remote island. After we arrive, we had to go to a dorm and unpack our package. The class was divided into groups of ten and each group had a team leader. During the evening, to familiarize our surroundings, our leader decided to play hide and seek. During the game, we had the opportunity to walk around and look at the surrounding. The first thing that I felt is I was totally surrounded by green living things, like trees, plants and grass. The beautiful scenery gave me a new sensation that I never feel before. Unlike living in the big city, which has all kind of pollutions and everywhere is surrounded by building, this new environment is full of living things. This place filled with liveliness, it is so graceful and bucolic. The color of green seems to be a universal color with other secondary color such as pink and red, which decorate the beautiful environment. The wind was blowing the tree lightly and causes the leaves lapped in the direction of the wind. The movement of the leaves created a rhythmic music, which seem like they were saying spring finally arrives and welcoming us to come to their paradise.
The next day, our journey began. Our instructor taught us how to use a canoe. With our safety suit, we sit on a canoe and took at least one and a half-hour to paddle across to an isolate island. During this course in the sea, we pass by a cave. I could not really see anything inside the cave because it seems pretty deep inside. The only thing I saw is few sharp conelike rock pointed outward from the top of the cave. I was wondering how did nature created all these strange things. Also, a large amount of water deep rushing in and out of it. However, the instructor was not really familiarize with the cave, and the wave at that time was pretty strong, he strongly advise us not to get in it so that we won’t be injured. Next we passed through few passages that is in between the islands. The islands have many different shapes, each has its own physical characteristic. Also, different trees planted on the island seem like they were representing the facial appearance of the island. I felt the islands have several contrast that deserved our notice. Some islands were extremely huge that when I paddle close to them, I felt like a giant was standing in front of me and it blocks the view of other islands. Some islands are so small that even if I multiply the size of island by a couple of time, it still won’t be as big as other island. This scenario is extremely funny, it seem like the giant and the dwarf pose in a differently glamorous style to compete for our attention.
When we were close to the coast, we began to see the bottom of the sea. The water was as clear as crystal. At the bottom, we saw many ridges and crack with a few varieties of seaweed and coral. They seem to follow the movement of the wave and tilt back and forth in a continuous pattern. The seaweed and coral were mostly composed of brown and green color. The abundant of it were numerous. I guess the ones below us were only the edge of all the sea plants, which extend even deeper into the sea. I was amazed by their ability to survive. Unlike plants on the earth, the plants lying on the seabed need only a small amount of sunlight to produce photosynthesis and create the essential nutrients to sustain their life. Moreover, the seaweed and the coral were not the only living creature below us. Different schools of fish were swimming in the transparent water, they were mostly small ones. With a few that was as big as the size of my palm, which I believe they were the parents of all these tiny little fishes. The parents seem to govern their children and direct them to swim to different places. As we swim close to them, a few schools of fish were approaching us and doing something bizarre. I conject they were giving us some signal that we sere not allowed to trespass their colonies. However, some were acting totally careless and ignoring that we were approaching them. They seem like they were having a happy time. Some were whirling around with the coral as the center. Some were hiding behind some seaweed or using the coral as a camouflage and wait for their prey. The sea plants and fishes have established a symbiotic relationship, and I was astonished by the diversity of all living things that live under the sea, which I had never seen it before.
When we arrived to the coast in the late afternoon. We decided to settle on a plain that is close to the coast and take a rest. I am exhausted and my arms are so feeble after long hours of paddling that my arms cannot hold anything without shaking violently. I reluctantly set the camp and received many help from my friends. Although I am tired, at least I try to be useful to my team. At last, dinner came. E built a bonfire and shared our food and let it cook for half an hour. I f I am right this is my first time that I ate it outdoor. I am extremely hungry that I did not care what kind of food it is. I devour the food ravenously, and my classmates complained that I ate most of it. This meal was one of the most delicious dinner that I have ever eaten in my life. Although we finished dinner, the dark is not coming yet. The instructor decided we should have our won activities. Since I was extremely tired, I determined to sit on a rock that is close to the coast. However, many of my classmates were still very energetic even after long hours of paddling. They were swimming in the sea, playing hide and seek, and splashing water to each other. Even though they were having so much fun, I was not jealous. I felt very warm and comfortable lying on the rock and let the falling sun irradiate on every part of my body. I felt like I was I paradise. The sounds of the nature were very rhymthic and soothing. The rising and falling of the wave, and whenever the wave strikes the rock, it created a particular music that is more beautiful than the note played by any musical instrumental in the world. The whispering of the wind and the curving of branches and vibrating of the leaves whenever the wind blow the leaves are all beautiful component to the sound of nature. Moreover, the smell of saltwater and the breeze, and all the living thing, such as trees, grass and flower, had gibing me something I never feel in the big city. It seems all this sensation has made me to become a new person and I will never forget that kind of feeling.
In the evening, the sun began to fall below the horizon. Although the sun is extremely big, it did not blind our eves. The falling sun looked like a huge egg yolk with a golden orangelike color. The scenery was extremely gorgeous and it is the most beautiful picture I have ever seen. During that time, many birds were flying in different directions and some were sitting on the branch scream loudly the glorify the elegance of sunset. The sun falls quickly and within 1 hours, the surrounds turn into a complete darkness. The stars began to appear in the dark. Some of them were grouped in a cluster but some of them are spread apart. They are very beautiful, and look like many diamonds are hanging on the sky. When were go to sleep, the insects were singing in a variety of tones and with the help of the enchanting night song and our exhaustion, we fell asleep faster than we can imagine.
Finally, our journey ends. After this journey, I felt like I am a new person. I think I have become stronger after all these exercise. Also, I felt totally relieved and become a more optimistic person. Also, I believe my soul and the essence of nature had become part of my life and I know that this adventure will stay in my heart forever. This experience had caused me to realize that we human being should never depart from the nature. Instead of keeping out of touch with nature, we should become part of it. To become part of it, we should come to the nature and become an active observer and tried our best to understand to what the nature is trying to express.