My Happy PlaceTeam Lily Pads: Anjika Friedman-Jha and Sanjana Shanmugavel

Username: AnjikaFriedman-JhaEmail: anjika.friedman-jha@jerichoapps.org

School: Jericho High School

My happy place is not a place that I visit often, rather it is an experience of a lifetime that I turn to when I feel like taking my mind off of my present hurdles. This picture was taken at the top of Avalanche Peak after my family and I had climbed 2,000 feet in two miles to finally reach the summit. The wind was howling and I could barely hear my own thoughts, and that was part of the mystique of the place. For me, when I find myself overrun with racing thoughts, I remind myself of this place where all there was to focus on was the breathtaking views. With nothing but the naked eye, I could see for miles throughout Yellowstone National Park and I saw the entirety of Yellowstone Lake.

What do i see?I see for miles and miles on end of open wilderness and forests full of wildlife. I felt as much of a part of this scene as possible, when in the hurry of twenty first century life I often find myself becoming a secondary character in my own motion picture.

What do I hear?Howling wind that speaks volumes. It drowns out my own mortal thoughts and replaces them with the idea of being infinite in a wilderness full of other living breathing beings just like me.

What do I smell?I smell the clean, crisp air of untouched forest, a smell that I turned too when I at times feel stifled by the overwhelming impacts of urbanization. It is important to clear the mind and experience for yourself the feeling of being in the middle of absolutely nowhere and at the same time feeling complete.

Chapped lips and wind chimesThey sway to fill the sticky air

The music flying on a carpet of moss overlooking tanned skinCotton candy clouds drip with placid drops of dew

Even the atmosphere knows it's best to sit still and watch the fireflies illuminate the night skyOn hot days and swell nights when the concrete jungle just wants tranquility

Street lamps and sidewalks trading in their sirens for something a little more sereneAnd then when the crowds have all gone home

The curtains finally closedThe performance has come to an end and the stage stills

Sink into the grass and share the violet night with the starsMy eyes flutter shut and the ashes of a former life float in the wind, but that's all behind me now

A howling, howling windMind mad with remembering

Sun burnt cheeks drowning with sights of placid lakesOf old dreams and storytelling overlords looking for their fix

But rather than pulling hairs out onto a rocky peak that is also leaning toward insanity I will Rest my head on the universe and let it consume me

What memory does this place evoke?

After all it's just a bunch of spaceIt has enough room for one more

While other hotels are vacantI am occupied by my bones

The daiquiri of vermillion coursing through my veins is enough for meAnd the breaths of oxygen are really all I need

The fireflies and I will be just fine on our own for the first timeSo for those summer days

When others are searching for answers in the eyes of friends or loversSearching somewhere for nostalgia, always coming up empty handed,

Searching for conversation in a world with nothing to discussI am all the excess on earth

Existing is the one thing I know how to doAnd I just keep on breathing breaths of clean, crisp airI float in and out with my head in the clouds, obscured

Until the morning rays bring me back to the sea skyI am inundated by waves of bliss

Serendipity sunrises remind me that everything is okayBuildings may collapse, destruction may unleash it's wrecking ball every once in a while

But as long as I sit stillPenetrated by only beams of light

Unadulterated wildernessI think I may have found the end of the tunnel

And for now this is enough for me