November 12, 2023
Yesterday I got back from a really wonderful and simple activity with our young men's quorum. We went to an Airbnb by antelope Island, stayed for one night, got up early for a sunrise, then hiked, hit the visitor center and headed home.
The beauty of all this was and it's simple, low pressure, low urgency, nature. We ate sandwiches that we made, green beans from a can, and mac & cheese from the box. The Airbnb had nothing special about it, the bedrooms weren't decorated, all the walls were white, the space wasn't big, or filled with fun things (or even much furniture). The games we played were simple. The jokes we told were mild. The visitor center was nice. The conversations we had were pleasant. Nothing was designed to be novel or extravagant. It was simple… and beautiful! We all felt connected to each other simply by being together, and having a shared experience!
There was a moment after the sun had risen where the landscape had homogenous, gentle colors; beige with gray blue, not much contrast either. It was simple and it was beautiful. One of the young men pointed this out to me. You could barely discern the sky from the great Salt Lake, and the lake from the land. It was simple and it was beautiful!
I think that the simple is too often equated with boring, lame or lackluster, and therefore treated like it has no value. Some of my favorite moments revolve around "simple." This is definitely one of those experiences for me that I hope to remember.
Get out and do something simple and beautiful with the people you care about!
*There was a pretty great moment where a buffalo looked at us, looked away, looked back and took a dump 💩 while staring at us... got a good shot of that 😆.
This poem was written in 2020 as a play on the original Mary Had A Little Lamb with Jesus Christ as the center figure. It is accompanied with artwork depicting each Stanza (partially complete). It is intended as an art piece more than a traditional literary work. It will be created as a children’s board
Read MoreI don’t really want to do this, but I feel like I need to swallow my pride and share a solid schooling I received from a tiny human. So here we go: Earlier today I was helping the kids get ready for the morning. For our 3 y/o daughter, Raya, I got out a pretty sweet
Read MoreEvery so often I write up some essays or share journal entries. The topics are typically ponderings, ideas, stories, and metaphors I'm working through in connection to God, spirituality, introspection and building meaningful relationships.
Watching sunrises (solo or with people) lights me up with this kind of stuff and I'm hoping to use this medium as a creative outlet that I can also share. Feel free to subscribe to my newsletter to see what it's all about (I'm also fond of feedback!) Thanks!
~ Chase Andrew Jones | Sunrise Kid