Why was I here? Instinct. Instinct led me to sit on a swing, to kick my feet against the thick road pavement. There wasn’t much going on in the town on a stormy day, but here I was. There was a view of the city from where I swayed carelessly, the ocean occupying the space between there and me. The park I resided in was a place I used to play, where my grandparents would take me as a child to keep my imagination flourishing.

It was only a few blocks from their own home, and the park was along a beachfront. It was very, very, murky that day; rain puddles were scattered amongst the ground. At first, I didn't find beauty in the view. There was absolutely nothing that really stood out to me.

Then my phone died.

And a digital, visual world among worlds was obliterated. I had to focus on the outside world, because I wasn't near a charger, and my home was ten minutes away by car.

So, I focused.

And it really brought me to a new understanding. We don’t use our eyes often. At least, not where we should. It bothered me to realize how reliant I am on this small little device that had only really been established a few years prior. It amazes me that I was so negligent to the beauty beyond the rusty fence that separated the grass and the ocean.

I noted the seagulls splashing their feathers as they swayed in the ocean’s current. I noted the few broken branches scattered across the lining of the beach, and admired how none looked the same. Maybe only slightly different, but not the same.

I was bothered by the lack of care I really held for our universe. I was really bothered. I kept thinking of the many discussions held in my English course about ‘seeing, but not truly seeing’, because had I seen the landscape that was before me in a picture online, I would say, "Wow. I wish I was there."

But I was there. We all are there. I think my English class helped me realize this.

I was so absorbed in what the world had to offer me from my fingertips, that I didn't acknowledge that there is more than just the digital world.

Behind that painted metal fence that separated me from the ocean, past the leaves and grass that gingerly were pressed against the beach’s lining, there are more worlds than just us, that we just don't know about, that we can be there to see.