This post was originally posted November 13, 2023 on my old website and is being reposted here for posterity.
When you live in the day to day, it’s so easy to get fully caught up in the small things. We’re out of toothpaste. The dog needs to go out for the fifth time. I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer in time for dinner. And, for me at least, it’s easy to get so focused on getting through each little detail that life turns into a to-do list I can never finish.
Earlier this summer, I had the unique opportunity to hop in a rental car (a Nissan Kicks we affectionately named Dani Roadhas, because road trip is life) and help a friend move across the country. Over the course of a week, we drove almost 3,000 miles through ever changing landscapes (well, except Kansas. Kansas didn’t change).
I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, in the shadow of the good old Appalachian mountains. While I’m fairly well travelled, most of that has been international, with most of my domestic travel being to see family along the east coast. I’d never seen the Rocky Mountains in person. So when we pulled out of Denver and first spotted them, I was immediately blown away.
Imagine my shock when my girlfriend laughed and informed me that what we were seeing was actually a FOOTHILL of the main mountains. Within half an hour, we were driving through a mountain range far beyond my earlier concept of what a mountain was. They just kept GOING.
Before the mountains had been the wide open fields of Kansas where you could see for miles without anything stopping the horizon early. And after the mountains came the desert, where you could see the impact of water and wind over rocks for millions of years.
I have never in my life felt so small. The world is huge and full of mystery. Even within my own country, there is wonder to be found. And I admit that joining my cousin in #vanlife and setting off on an adventure has some appeal.
But what’s really stuck with me is that the world as a whole is so much bigger than I am and the universe is too vast to care about me in particular. I am insignificant in the the context of the entire world.
And I like it like that.
If the world has no expectations, it frees me to carve out my own little space and community that makes ME happy. I don’t need to be world famous or do everything. I get to decide what success looks like. I can create my own little community and make an impact on the people and spaces I choose for myself. Being insignificant comes with freedom to find joy and direction within myself. And I find that comforting.
