Weightless

I hiked the solstice canyon today out in the Santa Monica mountains because I heard there were relics there of lives once lived in the hills. I always find myself drawn to places where humans once lived. I seek out long forgotten homesteads, ghost towns, and any Native American site I can get my hands on. Literally, I have to touch the foundations that remain as if somehow I can see through their eyes. I want to know what they saw, how the land looked at that time, what the house looked like, and what their daily lives were like. I wonder how they found themselves in these remote areas and how they built the places and where the materials even came from.
The house I came upon today was built in the 50’s and then taken by fire sometime after that.

Old pictures of the house show lots of pools in the front that are now mostly filled with earth. It looked amazing. In the back of the house was a natural waterfall. Did I ignore the signs and climb dangerously across the creek and up the slick boulders?

Of course I did. I perched myself next to the waterfall, high up on a boulder sitting like an uninvited guest in a ghosts backyard.
I wonder about the fancy houses built on other sides of this mountain range and I wonder about the people inside them. Do they use the nature and seclusion they’ve paid dearly for as fuel or are they so busy working they can’t see what’s out their giant windows? Are they too busy to play and climb and wander because they need to rush off to some trendy work out class?

I feel like the houses are sad and sterile. I’d rather have a tent and really feel the land than have a beautiful prison that no one has time to laugh inside of.
We all have to work, I know that, but the weight we put on ourselves in response to that will never matter in the end. It’s like carrying a cinder block in your backpack in case you need it. I can tell you right now you do not need it. What is the point of carrying it and being miserable? Unless you’re planning on tying it around your ankles and jumping off into a body of water, take that god damn weight out of your bag and leave it behind.
Be free.