It's the summer right before I started my freshman year in college and my wonderful aunt planned a trip to take my mom and I out to California for a week. Throughout the week, we made our way to breathtaking spots such as Monterey Bay, Big Sur, San Francisco, Alcatraz, the Redwoods. The entire trip was absolutely spectacular, but there was something about the time I spent in redwood forest that truly changed me mentally and spiritually.

Nature in general is something I have always cherished and admired. Many times it seems to be the one place to go to in this fast paced and exhausting world when in need of an outlet. To me, it is like a safe space. It is somewhere I can go to and feel comforted whether my emotions are positive, negative, or even a mix of both.

Nature speaks to me. Nature exhibits the deep wonders of the world in a loving and peaceful way. It makes me realize that there is a powerful energy within this planet that can run through the veins in your body and wrap its warmth around you. While not all of the information I receive and come to realize is always fathomable, it still makes an impact on my life in some kind of way.

While exploring the Redwoods, I gleamed at the pure beauty of what was right in front of me. Not only was I just passively looking at these large, magnificent creations of the Earth's, but I was taking in their active energy as well. At one point, it almost felt as if they were welcoming me into their world. A world in which we cannot completely understand but yet yearn to. A world in which this puissant energy flows through the roots of these trees and communicates effectively.

Aside from admiring their physical beauty and feeling their energy, there was a point during my time there in which I felt a higher being come over me. To this day, I have no conception of what this being or energy physically looks like or even is. However, I do consider the idea and possibility that the explanation to this could easily be the redwoods themselves. This idea just seems to make sense to me due to one simple concept being connectivity. Connection between two things is one of the most significant and impactful events on this planet. Whether it be mutualism between two mammals in an ecosystem or the emotional connection between two partners, connectivity is absolutely beautiful. Whatever the case may be, a connection gives off a certain energy and within that energy is a powerful force.