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Story Of Choice Essay- Jake Sexton

Journal 9
Jake Sexton

“No, we don’t need more sleep. It’s our souls that are tired, not our bodies. We need nature. We
need magic. We need adventure. We need freedom. We need truth. We need stillness. We don’t
need more sleep, we need to wake up and live.” ~Brooke Hampton

Mother Nature’s Son

Max was dreadfully tired. He was getting so sick of his daily 9-6 job. Even though he

enjoyed the work, lately he felt as though he was running on low fuel every single day. He was

unwittingly doing the same thing day in and day out, getting stuck in the same lousy schedule.

He knew something needed to change. Max got enough sleep lately, thinking that maybe the

reason for all this exhaustion was not getting enough sleep, but that seemed to do extremely little

for how exhausted and sick of everything he was.

One thing that Max hadn’t done for a while due to the dreadful weather as of late and

being too busy with work, family, and his social life was going to the beautiful Olympic National

Park. He felt a strange, but comforting connection with nature and wondered if that would help

his well-being at all. Maybe that had to do with his Dad, and the first time they ever went to the

Forest.

He often thought about the first time he ever went to the National Park, with his father all

those years ago. The mountains and Max’s dad had a similar serene, calm presence that Max

loved to be around. When they went to the park for the first time, Max remembered what his dad

told him about the mountains. He would say “Max, the Earth and the sky, woods and the fields,
lakes and the rivers, the mountain, and the sea, are excellent teachers, and teach some of us more

than what we could learn from books.” Max didn’t understand what he really meant by that at the

time, but He remembered how he couldn’t stop thinking about the birches he saw in the forest in

Washington, the sunbeams penetrating through, illuminating the green vegetation along the top,

and The blue sky clear enough to drink, big enough to live beneath. Max missed his father dearly

and his passing was a source of great sadness and stress, but The National Park gave him

something to reflect on what his father's presence felt like, as well as the quality time they spent

together. It really was a place like no other.

After all this reflection Max had about nature and how he felt so united to it, he decided

to plan a trip to head up to Cape Flattery this weekend.

The time had come to start on his adventure. As Max was driving, he was able to

adequately reflect and think about the things that were happening in his life. He was trying to

process unprocessed emotions, he thought about what made him sad, what made him happy,

what made him angry. He looked around and saw no other cars, no other travelers around. In

moments like this, He felt as though he was a tiny figure beholding an unknown power that lives

deep behind the night sky. Even when Max was all alone, he felt like someone outside of his

world was watching him. Maybe, just maybe it was his dad watching over him. The beauty of

what he saw and peace he felt transcended his spirit and gave him a hint of this strange being’s

identity. For that reason, Max didn’t feel alone being in the immensity of nature.

Max reflected on a book he recently read by Rick Bass, the author of A Texas Childhood,

where he describes how nature brings people happiness. He writes,

 “It was the woods and the earth – the slope of the hill, the laws of gravity … which seeks

joy so earnestly, so relentlessly.”

Bass realized he is not the one causing the joy experienced by himself and his daughter

Lowry, but something in his natural surroundings. Max would come to learn that Nature brings

us delight and peacefulness when we reanimate the sacred bond that we universally share with it.

As he drove up the forest, he looked around to see the magnificent mountains all around him, the

beautiful shades of green, and the distinct presence of the graceful Pacific Ocean.

He finally made it to his end destination. Cape Flattery, his favorite place in the whole

entire world. He set up his Hammock and began to play the song “Mother Nature’s Son” by the

Beatles on his Ukelele. When he was capable of closing his eyes, he did so and in doing so he

was allowing himself to soar across the landscape of his mind, his place of happiness had always

been high up on the branch of a tree, away from the business of life and the noise of the city. The

pale moon illuminated the dusky sky and invited the shadows of the trees to engage in a solemn

dance. As he looked out to see the rocks so wonderfully crafted by the mighty ocean, as he

listened to the waves crash upon the land, to smell the fresh pine trees that were unlike anything

in the busy market street of Seattle, as he touched mother nature below him, Max felt something.

He genuinely felt the cheerful serenity, eternal peace, and love he was so desperate to find. He

tenderly felt his beloved father with him.

It is in times like these that made life worth it all to Max. He felt as though there wasn’t a

problem in the world. Until the end of time, nature will continue to be valuable to earth and those

who inhabit it. Not only does nature hold the key to life, but it also provides people a place to

escape to when the outside world becomes too unbearable. Maintaining a relationship with
nature would seem to become essential for living a healthy life. Being surrounded by the fresh

rain smell or a cool winter breeze is all he really needed to feel calm and relaxed. Experiencing

interaction with divine nature was a good way to clear his mind and start the next day renewed.

Max promised himself to begin each day by fixing his eyes on the sun as it appeared above the

Seattle horizon. This gave the sense that Max would gain another day to embark on his dear, but

sometimes tough life. He believed nature is rewarding to those who appreciate its beauty and

treasure it so it may last for the next generation to take advantage of God’s splendid work of art,

and with that, he knew how much he would need to incorporate these trips and adventures into

his life to keep himself spiritually and mentally fueled.

The greatest peace of this ever so the life-changing experience for max, however, was

knowing there would always be hope thanks to Beautiful Mother Nature.

REFLECTION:
This is a third-person story, fiction, that takes place current-day current time.I really
enjoyed writing this piece for my English class. I took a very weird approach to it, as I
thought that we had to base it on a quote, but that wasn't the case but I still decided to go
with that. I think I did a great job of telling the story and going in-depth with imagery and
expressing his feelings and emotions throughout the story. I think to improve it, I could
have had some kind of more dialogue to make it more interesting. I did write more than
one draft, I probably made about five or six, with major and minor adjustments. I am very
proud of how it turned out and is one of my best writing Works in my opinion.