back to the hills

It was a Sunday, one like every other. The skies were gray, the air cool and fresh. I should have studied and worked on uni assignments. But I didn't. Instead I was scrolling, watching videos of people going hiking, being outside, living. I was yearning to reconnect with nature, wanted to experience real exhaustion and maybe even real fear, just to feel alive again. However, there are no mountains close by. Just a rather urban area. I could take a bus to drive out to the bigger forests but that would take hours. I looked outside the window. I mean, there are some woods right there, next to the campus. They seem unspectacular, plain and without much elevation. Just a sea of good old pine trees. Yet, I decided to say fuck it. I got dressed, took an apple and some water and just started walking. Alone. In silence. The further I made my way into the woods, the colder the air got. 

I really needed this, going outside, touching grass. There is something oddly peaceful to hiking when your only task is to put one foot in front of another. All my worries start to fade and for the time being, I'm just living in the moment. I tried to navigate the terrain by intuition, soon finding some hills. On top of one I sat down for a break, ate the apple and felt the wind in my hair.

Sometimes, I crave being high up on an open field. Does that make sense? Somewhere airy, somewhere where no structures tower above me, somewhere where I can breathe more easily.

After a while I made my way back home, walked 10 km in total. I laid in bed for the rest of the day, watching DVDs. I didn't get any uni stuff done that day, but I suppose it was worth it. 

Sometimes I have to remember myself that I do in fact have a free will and that the earth is a open world game.