On beauty

"Have you ever seen such beautiful colours.. did even you know they could exist like this?"—Stacy Adelman

My friend, Stacy, has already travelled to New Zealand and is completely in love with it. She threw a fit of jealousy when she first found out I was planning to travel to the land of the Kiwis (and of the hobbits!) for at least 6 months and called me a few names. But after that, she just added to the build up of expectation for how beautiful New Zealand would be. Almost everyone (who is anyone) has seen and loved Lord of the Rings, and therefore knows that the New Zealand scenery is epic.

But honestly, with all of this build up, I was a little worried I'd be disappointed. Luckily, I can put that worry to bed right now. I am absolutely not disappointed; I am stunned.

I have traveled to South Africa and England and Italy and to a few places in the United States, but to be honest, I'm not sure I've ever seen beauty like this. 

 After spending my first few days in country in Wellington I already thought, "This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen." New Zealand has a raw beauty. Even in Wellington, one of the largest cities in the country, the sky, the clouds, the sea green water, the wildly forested hills and unkempt "bush" of trees and vines and palm tree-like leaves seem untouched by humans.

Although I have not even seen half of this country yet, I would already like to declare that it must be one of the most beautiful in the entire world. So, this blog will be mostly composed of photographs and (hopefully) some film too. Please post your thoughts, links to your own blogs, etc. here, so these posts can be the start of a conversation about people, places, and goals in life.

One personal goal I have for this blog is to only post facts and observations. I want to stick to what I know to be true and have seen with my own eyes, instead of falling into assumptions. Although they are sometimes correct, I’ve learned that most of my assumptions and snapshot judgements of people, places, or things are wrong. It is a lot easier to assume I know something than to take the time to learn or experience it more completely for myself. But that is one of the reasons I wanted to live in New Zealand instead of vacation here: to see and get to know the real New Zealand in all of its complexities, contradictions, and beauty.