"The Outdoors" by Aria M.

I love the outdoors

But really, I hate it

It’s an everyday thing,

Not payed attention to, ignored.

“The grass is green,” we are taught in kindergarten

When our imaginations come close to exploding

And our senses tingle with joy at every new experience

And yet, the outdoors is simply something that exists

Something that is just there

Something looked over and taken for granted.

I avoid the outdoors

Because its greatness overwhelms me.

I get frustrated because no camera can fully capture,

Can fully comprehend,

The clear layers of the pink evening clouds

Or the mysterious, whimsical glow of the moon.

It is simply one of the amazing parts of the human experience

That words cannot describe.

I avoid the outdoors

Because I feel as if I will never truly be able to comprehend its beauty.

When I go outside,

I feel as if my senses have been dulled

As if I am a tiny ant, released from its anthill for the first time,

Not able to comprehend its newfound freedom.

No matter what words I use I will never be able to grasp the perfect bliss

Of the outdoors.

And I guess

That if the outdoors could be easily comprehended,

Easily described,

As it supposedly is in science class

Or in simple sentences to kindergarteners

Then it really wouldn’t be that amazing,

Would it? I guess

That it is a gift

To have something so amazing, so perfect,

That even our brilliant human senses

Cannot fully appreciate its greatness.

I guess

That the reason why the outdoors is looked over,

Taken for granted,

Even ignored,

Is not because we think that it is boring,

But that it is too overwhelming for the human mind to grasp

And that scares us.

So I guess I think I hate the outdoors

But really,

I love it

More than I can understand.