I was somewhere in the state of Arizona when it hit me. The road seemed to stretch endlessly ahead of me, sunburnt cliffs and mountains that looked as if it was carved by time itself. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the beauty that surrounded me for miles on miles. The beauty of it, it was overwhelming, vast, breathtaking.
Just then, a simple thought popped into my head. When was the last time I felt this way about my home?
I’m from Boston, Massachusetts – a city layered with history, culture, and character. People come from thousands of miles away, from all around the world to visit our city and the places that make it special. For instance, Fenway Park, the Boston Public Garden, the Freedom Trail, the Boston Public Library, and the various prestigious universities scattered all around the city. Even with all of this, I walk by them every single day of my life without even batting an eye.
Maybe that’s the strange thing about familiarity-it dulls the edges of what should move us. What once felt meaningful and large in our eyes is now just background noise. We pass by beautiful sights all the time, and yet we don’t even notice. This isn’t due to the fact that the beauty has faded, rather we just don’t take the time of day to notice.
Arizona forced me to once again open my eyes wide and live in the moment. The land around me didn’t just impress me-it made me realize how long it’s been since I truly took the time to take in the world around me. Not just glanced over at it, but really saw it.
It’s strange how beauty can hide in plain sight. How something can become invisible to our own eyes, just simply because it’s always been there. Arizona, in its unfamiliar beauty, reminded me of what it means to really take in and pay attention to everything around you. It showed me how important it is to take in everything that you see, whether it’s new or known.
That one drive through Arizona didn’t just leave me with photos, or memories. It has totally changed my perspective on everything. It reminded me that awe and wonder isn’t just reserved for vacations, or faraway places. It’s also in the details of our everyday lives. Maybe it just takes that shift in perspective-a willingness to slow down, to look up. Maybe it just takes us treating the familiar as if it were the unfamiliar. When we find ourselves able to do this, we begin to realize that we’re surrounded by beauty.
The next time there’s something beautiful in front of you, whether it’s the horizon you’ve stopped noticing, a road you’ve walked a million times, a voice you hear on the daily. Notice it, don’t wait for the distance or time to show you its true worth. The most meaningful beauty isn’t what we find in the new, it’s what we’ve had all along.
