It's incredible to wonder what mountains had to go through to stand as tall and beautiful as they do—undergoing such intense pressures from deep within themselves, as their mantle and core shifted and moved, forcing parts of themselves up into the sky while other pieces of land moved below to support. With each move, different layers and parts of themselves became exposed. Some layers remained bare to the elements, allowing erosion to either smooth or roughen their walls, and other surfaces became covered with vegetation, providing life for other beings to flourish.
Mountains are messy, jagged, and crooked, weathered in unique ways to the environment they are surrounded by and the pressures they are exposed to, but their messy, quirky bodies make them beautiful and distinct. It is not only what mountains have been through that makes them so inspiring, but also their untamed wildness and freedom to change, grow, shift, expand, and shrink without caring what others may think. The love and inspiration they invoke in the people that venture through them. The ongoing mystery of their journey and their strength in the face of storms and changing weather. These are the things that make mountains beautiful.
These mountains have not always existed; they took so much to come to be. And one thing for certain is that even mountains will continue to change because this is the only constant in life.
•••
When you read or re-read this, I hope you can find the relationship of this to your own life. I see so many connections with nature in my life, perhaps because we come from the earth (despite how much we try to separate ourselves from it). When we tune into the beauty surrounding us in nature, we can begin to recognize the beauty that is also at play within our own lives.
•••
Embrace your wild. Embrace your past. Embrace the journey you're on. Embrace your quirks, scars, jagged edges, and rough patches. Embrace your changing core. Embrace your complex layers that will never look the same as someone else's. Embrace where you are today. Stand tall, feel your strength, and find the beauty in all that you are, every nook and cranny of your being. You are as beautiful as every mountain peak this earth has ever seen.
