Into the Woods I Go by Austin Quiggins

My obsession with mother nature has been going strong since the first time I was able to walk and carry a rifle simultaneously. Everything from the dirt to the sky make up the finely threaded fibers of the fabric that compose my unique soul. From the time I was a young boy trampling through the woods in my oversized overalls, I have been amazed by the simplicity yet complexity of nature. This appreciation of the great outdoors has only grown fonder over the years. The feeling I get when I am fully escaped from the fast-paced environment of modernity is indescribable. Being immersed in the vastness of the wild is the equivalent to a “runner’s high”. I love walking that fine line between being lost but knowing where you are and being truly lost. It’s at this point that you are able to successfully shed your layers of security and can experience true freedom. The type of freedom that, I believe, every being unconsciously longs for but only few are brave enough to actually venture outside the walls of modern society to explore.
Nature is as ruthless as it is remarkable. This truth is something you learn very quickly when traversing outside the confines of your own comfort zone. Nature can sometimes be a little bipolar, especially living in the bluegrass state, more specifically the outskirts of south-west Jefferson County near the border of Bullitt County. I believe where I was brought up played as much of an influence on my character as who I was brought up by. My parents divorced shortly after my 7th birthday. My father ultimately took over full custody of my brother and I due to my mother’s misaligned priorities. The impact of the divorce wasn’t recognized until my late teen years. Growing up I would sometimes get frustrated at not having my mother around as much as she should have and the only way to remedy these frustrations were by escaping behind my paternal grandparents’ home whose property bordered the Jefferson County Memorial Forest. Those hills are what formed my foundation as a person.
Having the ability to escape into my own personal Narnia or Forbidden Forest allowed me to free my mind of all angst. Sometimes you have to get lost to find yourself. Getting lost in something larger than myself taught me perspective. The realization that we, ourselves, are only one tiny pin drop in perspective to the world we occupy. This epiphany is what shaped my creative mind. Distancing myself from any form of infrastructure was my personal therapy. I learned how to control my emotions and mature my thoughts, as well as the value of forgiveness and how bottling things doesn’t make them go away. Through this peace of mind, I was able to become one with the wilderness.
There really is something majestic about the forest that is completely unexplainable. The sense of serenity I get by sitting next to a tree and watching the woods come a live is what captivated me the most. It truly is breathtaking to venture out in the woods during the early morning and watch the forest come a live as the sun rises. All of its inhabitants unaware of my presence vigilantly scavenging the forest floor in searching for their next meal. Witnessing this act showed me the true beauty of life. This recognition of true beauty helped me see my creative side. These precious images stored as memories depicted themselves through artistic expression. I don’t draw nearly as much as I used to but having an artistic eye has permitted me to see things in a different way and to think outside the box of a typical frame of mind.
Like trees, my roots are also deeply cemented in the earth. The hills behind my grandparents are what planted the seed to those roots which continue to grow to this day. My time roaming those hills taught me many intangible lessons in life and one of the most important lesson was that growth comes from within. Like the way a river or creek has to create its own path and direct itself, I carved my own trail off the beaten path of pavement.