Iceland is truly like a place of dreams - you really cannot understand its beauty until you have seen it with your own eyes. Thankfully, I will have this memory forever: the rolling landscapes, the huge masses of white ice that cover miles of land, the black sand beaches, lava rocks building towers on top of one another, powerful waterfalls, rainbows arching over the North Atlantic. But will my children, and their children, and the generations to follow get to see these things?
Because of our insensitiveness to the earth, this beauty could soon be destroyed. Everyone should get to experience the true wonder that is this world. We need to preserve this beauty, or our world may very well one day, and soon, be a sad one. My experiences with raw nature in Iceland changed my perspective of this world for good. It is my hope that I can inspire others to feel a tenderness for nature the way I now do.
"The earth has music for those who listen." - George Santayana
The power of Skógafoss Waterfall is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. Walking up to its roaring water was almost intimidating. Skógafoss seemed to be screaming at me that Mother Nature is more mighty than I ever will be. She is huge and strong and made of water and rocks and land, and she creates pure beauty.
Skógafoss drowned me in droplets of fresh water, while a rainbow drew a halo above my head. Standing here, I was both belittled and empowered. I had never felt more connected to nature than in that moment, and I wish I could relive this feeling over and over again.
Imagine yourself sipping on a cold beer while eating a huge piece of chocolate cake. Now, add this view. It's safe to say, this moment easily could have been my heaven on earth.
The city of Reykjavík is beautiful in itself. It rests alongside Faxa Bay, with views of snowcapped mountains directly across the water. The bay is crystal clear, so much so that I would want to jump right in if it weren't full of arctic water. Staring at the mountains, I wanted to run to them, climb them, get lost in them, and explore a land so unknown.
And this right here, this is the spot where the North American and European tectonic plates meet: the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Located in Þingvellir National Park, I walked along the plate boundary of my own country, and one foreign. I was standing on two continents at once, which created a rigged wall of sturdy rock, with frozen waterfalls and pounding streams flowing down and along its boundaries. I guess this is what the ancient history of the formation of our world looks like. It is breathtaking.
I even drove right through a frozen tundra. There's not really much to say about this drive. It was just hours of taking in the vast nothingness, that was both frightening and humbling at the same time.
The sun was blinding, reflecting off of the pure whiteness of the ice and snow that went on for miles and miles on end. The wind was so strong; it whipped through my hair and threatened to push my small body right down onto the ice when I stepped out of the car to take in the hugeness of all of that "nothing".
I couldn't really form any words when I was standing out there. All I could do was breathe in the fresh air, and feel so grateful for all of the simple beauty unfolding before my eyes. Landscapes like this are what should remind us that humans are just visitors to this earth that is so much greater than us.
Reynisfjara is a black sand beach that quite literally rose from the volcanic ash that created Iceland. Walking along the beach, my boots were stained black from the ashy sand, while the salty smell of the North Atlantic engulfed me. I was actually warned not to go near the water, for the fear that a huge and sudden wave could pull me under. While beautiful looking, this beach is not gentle as it is covered in the fiery wrath of Mother Nature herself. Her wrath certainly provided us with an outstanding view.
The beauty of the natural wonders that I saw in Iceland really just cannot be described properly because months later I am still at a loss for words for the emotions that this trip brought me.
One thing I know for certain, though, is that I cannot stand by while my own race causes the destruction of Mother Nature. I am just one person, and I cannot do much on my own. But together, we can be strong for the one who created this amazing life for us. Together, we can look past the disappointments that come with this world, and we can see that this earth is home to amazing wonders — we just have to know where to find them.
If all humans could search for the love that is within each of us, we could be just as amazing as Mother Nature herself. Us humans, we are all one big family and this earth is our home. We cannot sit idle and watch slowly as our earth heats up, our resources deplete, our children starve. We cannot allow for the hunting of our animals and the killing of our own human companions. We only get one life. We only get one earth, one home. We all need to start treating it with the respect and love that it gives us.
Please preserve this earth so that my children, your children, and their children and grandchildren and great, great grandchildren can appreciate its beauty.
"The earth doesn't want to be saved. It wants to be loved. That's how we save it."
- April Peerless
