Backcountry Beautiful

You know what I LOVE about backpacking? I love the way I experience feeling beautiful. I love that there are no mirrors; I never see my face or my body reflected in a physical way. You only feel the reflection of your energy through the woods... the trees, the water, the plants, all the living things around you; even through the eyes of the person with whom you are traveling. I love that so much. I despise the way we've crafted and contorted the concept of physical beauty. It's despicable and ridiculous.

What if I could learn to see my body as beautiful because of what it does for me? How it carries me far and high and stabilizes me and helps me balance and lift heavy things. What if I treat it with the same care as I do, say, my cello... not because I want it to look a certain way, but because it is truly my most valuable possession: the worldly house of my spirit.