How Muir Woods Changed My Life

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A mere glimpse of the ocean through the trees changed my life.

It was 6 A.M. on a Saturday in July when I saw it. Typically, my mind is whirring with thoughts and anxieties, never ceasing or quieting, but for this, they went silent. The Bay Area of California was my childhood fantasy. Other girls wanted to be princesses; I wanted to watch the fog swim across the ocean from the Ferry Building, holding my grandpa's hand and inhaling the San Francisco air. It was all so unlike my home in suburban Utah.

This particular morning, we were driving to Muir Woods. The sun had just risen, and in the minivan, we were listening to The Beatle's White Album. We skimmed through a marshy field, a patch of forest, then dodged through the quaint, picturesque …show more content…

Me, Grandpa, Grandma, and my sister Julia. There's nothing to describe Muir Woods. It doesn't ask for reverence, it demands it, and then takes it, softly, gently and powerfully. I wanted to stay there forever. The groans and moans I'd uttered earlier as I was getting out of bed at 5:00 A.M. seemed obscenely …show more content…

As I received treatment for depression earlier in my High School career, I heard quite often that every day, I should make a list of what I'm grateful for. I'd heard this so often before I brushed it off like dirt of my shoulder. But I found myself doing it anyway, and finding comfort in it. On days when I felt more like dying than staying alive, I would drag myself out of bed, and try to go outside (even reaching the living room couch was a victory). And I would find them. Beautiful things came to me so much easier than they did when I was younger, even though I was depressed. The smell of rain, the blue-gray clouds on the purple mountains. The sound of my sister's laughter from inside, or the feeling of a cool breeze. I would take it all in, and walk back inside feeling, at the very least, like I could survive another day. During this time in my life, my second and third novels were

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