Experience in a Natural Setting: Summer of 16 in Colorado

The summer of 2016 was the most influential time I’ve experienced throughout my life. After my junior year at CNU I was able to find a well-paid summer job in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. A suburb of Denver, Highlands Ranch was roughly 30 minutes from the Rocky Mountains. Although my weeks were filled with early mornings and strenuous work, I was able to utilize my off weekends to camp, hike, and experience the natural settings surrounding me. I’ve always believed in the uplifting experience nature provides but being fully engrossed between sky scraping mountains was a much more spiritual experience than I had anticipated. My two favorite campsites were near Boulder, Colorado and Golden, Colorado deep in the forests of the mountains. Of course the mountains amaze everyone with their beauty and vastness but feeling spirituality close to the mountains only occurred to me through camping over the weekends. It is hard to even explain the impact that these experiences had on my emotional well-being. I was happier and more positive in the mountains. The mountains made me forget about the material items that surround everyday life and made me focus more on the social bonds I have with others around me. At this point in my life I was in a good state of mind but felt as though something was missing. I was in a toxic relationship that did not support my trip to Colorado. I realized I did not need another individual affecting the experience I was having with these natural settings, I was fully on my own, away from family, friends, and my relationship for the first time in my life and I cannot thank my experiences enough for making me the person I am today. I’ve become more open and non-judgmental to others since these spiritual experiences in the mountains and have actually made more social connections this year than I ever have before.