One of my most notable and memorable experiences in nature occurred this past summer when I went up to a nature camp in Challenge, California. It was a Young Life Christian summer camp that lasted for a week in the woods of northern California. To help us become one with nature and to feel closer to God, our leaders had us turn in our phones on the bus ride up and did not give them back until about an hour into our trip home. This renunciation of my phone placed me in a form of isolation that was reminiscent to the common theme of solitude that author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry experienced and discussed in his memoir, Wind, Sand and Stars. I had never gone without my phone for an extended period of time before this trip so I found my experience
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Though I wish I was mentally stronger, I did miss social media for while. I felt as though II had been picked up and dropped off into the middle of nowhere, which was actually closer to the truth than anything else. I had felt as stranded as Saint-Exupéry felt when his plane crashed and he was left alone in the desert until another rescue plane could pick him up. It felt weird to be disconnected from society and not know what was going on in the world around me. After getting over that initial difficulty however, I began to feel comfortable with the lake and the trees that surrounded me just as Saint-Exupéry began to feel comfortable waiting on his sand dune. I found myself becoming more and more attuned with nature and began to look within my heart at my inner self as a form of reflection. I discovered that without my phone, I could learn more about myself and “by renunciation I discovered a hidden God” (130). Without social media and my phone to distract me from connecting with God, the myopia that I had acquired from the social norms in modern society began to clear. I realized that life is a beautiful gift from God and that no matter what we do, God will show us an ultimate love that compares to no other. This camp and my experiences brought out a religious side within me that continues to positively affect me
Though I wish I was mentally stronger, I did miss social media for while. I felt as though II had been picked up and dropped off into the middle of nowhere, which was actually closer to the truth than anything else. I had felt as stranded as Saint-Exupéry felt when his plane crashed and he was left alone in the desert until another rescue plane could pick him up. It felt weird to be disconnected from society and not know what was going on in the world around me. After getting over that initial difficulty however, I began to feel comfortable with the lake and the trees that surrounded me just as Saint-Exupéry began to feel comfortable waiting on his sand dune. I found myself becoming more and more attuned with nature and began to look within my heart at my inner self as a form of reflection. I discovered that without my phone, I could learn more about myself and “by renunciation I discovered a hidden God” (130). Without social media and my phone to distract me from connecting with God, the myopia that I had acquired from the social norms in modern society began to clear. I realized that life is a beautiful gift from God and that no matter what we do, God will show us an ultimate love that compares to no other. This camp and my experiences brought out a religious side within me that continues to positively affect me