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November Immersion stresses importance of nature

Dr. Ray stopped for what felt like only a second to admire the flora we had just planted and said,

“She’s gonna be beautiful” and on that note, just walked away.

14A big smile spread across my face in that moment as I realized how beautiful life can be if you are a person like Dr. Ray Webber. It was like he told me “Life is full of beauty, notice it.” And for the first time in a while, I did, I truly did. For November Immersion we went to Cedar Lakes, Woods and Gardens. From the second we stepped on Cedar Lakes nature preserve I knew I had come to a very special place and the moment I met Dr. Ray himself my heart filled with warmth not only for him but for his cause. Working amongst him and his small team, their passion was suddenly and so quickly mine as well. Dr. Ray’s energy and love for nature was so incredibly contagious. I worked very hard with intent and love, filled with and driven by the feeling that I was not only helping my earth but such a wonderful group of people that dedicate their whole lives to making the world a beautiful, better place.

I realized that before this point I had been taking so many things for granted. I was taking life itself for granted and for a moment I hated myself for it, but soon realized that I was not helping anybody and only hurting myself by doing this. I needed to channel my energy into doing more things with intent, with a purpose, and mainly with a lot of love and compassion in my heart. Dr. Ray and his team-taught me that the world is indeed such a beautiful place, and that we are key to keeping it and making it more that way. Taught me that we should be thankful for the little things like just waking up every day, every breath we take. That life is for much more than complaining and that I myself can make a difference if I only try a little harder to see the good in things and make the bad ones better. Life is for service.  So here’s to those who inspire us and don’t even know it, the unsung heroes of our day to day lives. People like Dr. Ray, Jesse, Lori, and many more that I did not have the pleasure to meet and that dedicate their lives to building and preserving special places like Cedar Lakes that inspire us to be better people and build a better world. All this thanks to Rollins College Immersion program.

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