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Nature in my life and how much my current relationship has grown and changed throughout the years.

Being in the great outdoors and experiencing nature has always been a huge part of my life, from minute one. My parents introduced me to the glories of the outdoors from the minute I could hold my head up myself. Whether it was hiking in the wilderness with me in a travel pack, car camping which evolved into canoe camping as soon as my sister and I were old enough, alpine skiing, cross country skiing, you name it.

Growing up surrounded by family and friends that appreciate being outside both in rural and urban settings has greatly influenced who I am as a person. I never had cable TV, never was babysat to just watch movies and was always encouraged to play outside instead. I’m not going to lie, as a kid I was always jealous of my friends that got to watch TV for hours and weren’t “forced” to find my own entertainment outside. Now I realize that this was the best blessing my parents could have done for me. My families history of exploring outside through hiking and camping trips, hut to hut overnight ski trips, and exploring our gorgeous planet with many more adventures has made me who I am today. I am proud to say that I’ve been given every opportunity to experience nature that my family has had to offer, and for that I am grateful.

When I reached the years of adolescences that I thought myself “too cool” to hang out with my parents, my aunt continued to encourage me to go outside. This is where I reach the person who offered me a sense of place in the great outdoors. My aunt Anita encouraged me to get outdoors with her for many many adventures allowing me to appreciate and adore nature day after day. I can safely say that she is the reason I continue to put in effort to be outside even during the most unmotivated moments of my life. Anita is an amazing woman, and I know no one else who is as motivated by nothing other than being outside and appreciating mother nature. I’m very grateful that in the moment I almost let go of exploring everything nature has to offer just to live urban life that Anita stepped in and rejuvenated my love. There is an event called the Canadian ski marathon held annually in Quebec, and through the motivation of Anita I trained with her for the trek. The CSM is a 165km trail that is skied over two days, intense training to successfully complete it is definitely needed and I have to admit the idea of that made me not want to participate. Early mornings in the Gatineau hills and day-long backpacking ski trips to train completely erased that mindset for me. Instead of seeing it as a tedious training I fell back in love with winter and being outside. I will never forget the beauty of watching the sunrise hit fresh powder snow right in the morning and seeing the glittering reflection. I still think of every sparkle on the forest snow whenever I feel down! A lot of people overlook the beauty of winter, and I was one of those for a while. I owe it to my best friend and aunt, Anita. She is the primary person that has influenced my “sense of place” (as described in our textbook) in the wilderness.

Of course, this is not just about winter but also my developed relationship with nature. As hopefully I related I have always LOVED being outside, and I truly believe that fresh air is key to living a healthy life. Unfortunately, being in school and dedicating myself to studying and also working a part time job has made it difficult to get outside for as long as I’d like… so I’ve learned to believe in quality not quantity. Being outside for half an hour and rejuvenating though fresh air is perhaps the best I can do right now, but I know that with these small moments I’ll get back to big adventures in our beautiful nature and I cannot wait.

I’m sure lots of you understand the frustration of not having the most time you’d wish for outside, but I know that we’re trying our best and working towards finding more and more time throughout our lives to make time for things we love. Nature. Outdoors. Life, truly breathing fresh air.