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Entry #100: Dear Diary,

I flip through the pages of my black-and-white composition notebook, its lines inscribed with the scratchy gray words of a just-woke-up-from-sleep-teenager:

Entry #18: Dear Diary, today I…

Entry #57: Dear Diary, I had such a good morning…

Entry #82: Dear Diary, today’s Wordle is confuzzling…

It’s a daily ritual for me: wake up at 5 a.m., take a shower, wear a fluffy jacket and walk into the backyard with my composition in one hand and a pink yoga mat in the other.

It’s weird, you probably think. Waking up so early to journal. But if you only knew what it was like, maybe you would join me…

A tranquil silence clouds the air, only broken by the occasional chirps and twitters of the birds above. It is a comforting solitude under the pitch black sky, with the company of a thousand stars that stretch for millions of miles.

I lay my head down on the yoga mat and pull the jacket closer to my face as I stare up at the blinking sky, and it stares back. As that dark painted sky begins to streak with light, I know it’s time.

I lift my head from the ground as the sun peeks out. Slowly at first, it begins to luminesce the idyllic world, bringing life as it does. Wispy clouds begin to paint themselves along that picturesque scene. A chattering squirrel runs across the wooden fence. A bird perches itself on the tree. Snails amble across the grass. Ants scurry across the cement ground, scavenging for work. All of this life awakes in a matter of minutes. 

It’s grounding, to know that the world continues to revolve, completely unaware of me and my existence. And all of that world is so beautiful. 

So beautiful that for a second my worries disappear. The deadlines disappear. The thoughts disappear. 

For a second, it is just me. And those twinkling stars. That streaked sky. The sun. The clouds. The squirrel. The bird. Snails. Ants. And nature.

Nature.

…I smile to myself and close that 100-page composition book. Maybe I’ll buy another one. But today, I set it down on the grass and rise up. 

Maybe you’ll join me one day, but until then you continue to watch me. You watch me until I walk farther and farther and become nothing more than a mere dot. 

Gallery • 7 Photos

Rhea Chowdhary

The Sidekick staff writer Anushree De gives thanks to nature because of the beauty it offers. De’s appreciation of nature shows in their daily morning routine.

Thank you nature,

Always and forever,

Anu

Follow Anushree (@anushree_night) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.