If I had to choose a favorite geographical place in the world, it would be Devil’s Lake State Park in Baraboo, WI. It’s my happy place and I went out there a few weekends ago with a friend of mine and it was a really calming time. It really called for some introspection, looking into one’s self and their life, and it was a good thing to do. I had been meaning to go just for me, as a chance to get out and experience the incredible wonder that is nature and some chances to practice photography, but as it would happen I was given an assignment in an arts class that pushed me out there. We were required to walk for 20 minutes in nature without our phones and create a work of art from our experience. That could be a song, painting, dance, poem, or any other piece of art that was inspired by our experience. As part of my assignment I found a deeper meaning in a certain photograph that I took while I was out there.

Perspective. It’s really easy to lose sight of what’s important. We can get so caught up in dumb little things and think those things are the whole world. Work, homework, the opinions of us that other people have of us. These things don’t matter. We make plans for how we’re going to handle things that we might not even face. We try to plan out our lives, but we don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring. What is your life? You’re just like a mist that appears for a short time and then vanishes. That’s it. It’s not a bad thing though. You only get a little bit of time so you just need to remember not to stress out about the small things. That’s much easier said than done of course, but that’s why I really recommend taking some time alone to get your priorities in order and think about what you really want to do with this little bit of life that you get.

Here’s the personal lesson I found from this picture that I took while I was out there.

This table is right where it belongs. It doesn’t belong in a frozen lake, though. It looks and feels like it’s not in the right place right now, in this frozen moment. However, it’s in just the right place. In the Spring, the ice will melt and the table will be on dry land again. The table just needs to persist and wait out this season and then everything will be the way that it should be.

That’s how it is with life sometimes. When I took this, I was the table in a frozen lake in the middle of winter. I was somewhere where I didn’t feel like I quite belonged where I was. There were some elements that felt right in life but on the whole a lot didn’t feel right or look how I wanted to it. But when the season changes, the table will be right where it belongs and that will be revealed, just as it will be for me. So here’s to everyone who’s in the same spot.

I truly think that you, the one reading this, should try to take some time to think about what you want out of life. Who do you want to be? At the risk of sounding cliché, life’s too short to waste. You just get one life here on Earth, you should try to figure out who you are, what you like, and what matters, what’s really worth your life. And don’t settle for less than what matters.