Wellness Experience #1: Although my schedule was packed and I unfortunately couldn’t attend a Sac State led activity, the experience I went on today was, in my opinion, still incredibly impactful: a walk with my dog around Folsom Lake. Usually, it is other members of my family who walk our dog and typically just around the neighborhood, but I finally acted on what I’ve planned to do for quite some time now which was to go for a jog with my dog around the lake. I don’t live far from Folsom Lake, so we were able to get there quite fast and begin on a trail shooting off from Brown’s Ravine. For so long I’ve wanted to try and get out of the house more, to try to be more active, and especially with my dog, so this off the bat was a great relief for me. I can easily say that this activity immensely helped the spiritual, environmental, and physical dimensions of my wellness. For the spiritual aspect, I felt one with nature, completely interconnected; I existed only in that moment, at that place, with my friend (my dog), and with no other goal than to simply continue down the trail and to be. I absolutely adore nature but don’t seem to find the motivation to get out as often as I want, but when I do finally get out these feelings flow through me every time and with such immense bliss too. Needless to say, I was incredibly grateful to have such an experience and to share it with my dog; so very grateful too even for the fact that it even happened to begin with (all directly analogous to life as a whole as well). For the environmental dimension, getting outside and with it having just recently rained, the air had that distinct “wet” smell to it. You could smell the wetness of the grass, the bark of the trees, and the usual freshness of the air all mixed together. It was wonderful. Of course, you could also occasionally hear the ambient wildlife lurking just shy beyond the confines of the trail. Different kinds of birds sang their songs in the trees, and mysterious critters would scurry through the brush alongside me. Lastly, for the physical element, me and my dog definitely got a good 3 workout in. Some parts we could walk due to the muddy conditions, but in areas where it was more dry we’d jog up and down through the forest with the lake alongside us. We also were out on the trail for quite some time too, around 3 to 4 hours. Once again, I haven’t been as active as I’ve wanted to be for a bit now, so this was awesome to really get moving again. Overall, this experience was absolutely fantastic for my wellness and I’d love to do it again sometime very soon and especially on a sunnier day; I have nothing negative to say about the experience whatsoever. When it comes to what I’ve learned from the activity, it’s not so much on things I’ve learned for the first time, but rather necessary reaffirmations of things I may have drifted away from. Sometimes, like any other human being on this planet, I get caught up in this confusing world and lose a bit of my sight on the simple, natural, ever-present beauties of this world that surround us all the time (this, of course, being nature and the natural beauty of the universe as a whole; the fact that anything exists at all in the first place is a miracle beyond the constrictions of words, truly ineffable). Being there, on the trail, looking down at my dog happily trotting along and then looking all around me at these gorgeous sights, from the tiniest bug beneath me to the tallest trees overhead, I felt safe. I felt home. It reaffirmed to me that everything serves a purpose, that everything is beautiful, that everything is interconnected to one another, and that change is natural and all around us. We are no different than the trees in the forest; constantly growing and branching in different, beautiful ways, yet rooted in the same soil. Despite the cold, the heat, the damage, all trees continue to try their hardest to persist regardless. Then, one day, the tree will fall, perhaps its body taking on a new meaning as a bridge for passing animals and hikers; but it is because it fell, because it is now gone, that its life had meaning and beauty, because it was, and now it isn’t. You can’t have life without death, because if you lived forever, how much would a second be worth? The tree’s life is a song sung once, much like the birds’, 4 and never again. A story compiled in this universal story book we’re all a part of; it existed instead of never existing, and that’s what matters. That is far more beautiful than we can ever hope to define. Remembered forever even when no one is left to remember. All this and more is what was reaffirmed to me by this wonderful experience, and I will take this knowledge of love going forward to continue to try my best to spread as much love as I can before I, too, will fall someday

• 3/30/2024, H