June 24, 2017 by Rich Malloy

“This Land was Made for You and Me”: Visit a National Park this Summer

“National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best, rather than our worst.”

-Wallace Stegner, American historian, author, and environmentalist, 1909-1993

“This land was made for you and me.”

-Woody Guthrie, American folk singer, 1912-1967

Wallace Stegner got it right: There may be many things to complain about in America today, but the National Parks are not among them. More than anything else in America, they represent the natural beauty of our land in all its diversity—and, perhaps even more importantly, they protect it for all Americans, in perpetuity.

And no one better celebrated that natural beauty in song than Woody Guthrie, whose classic folk ballad, “This Land Is Your Land,” serves for many as an alternative national anthem. Although not solely about the National Parks, Guthrie’s classic celebration of America’s beauty, written in 1940, is a timeless reminder that our undeveloped, protected, natural beauty is an inheritance that we must pass on, intact, to each new generation.

So take a visit to a National Park this summer or fall. Hike to the top of Guadalupe Peak in far west Texas and face east, knowing that the next higher peak you would see, if you could see it, would be in the Swiss Alps. Visit Yosemite and stand at the base of a granite monolith 3600 feet high—over 300 stories! Trek to Sequoia or Redwoods and marvel at nature’s tallest trees (or Saguaro or Joshua Tree for some of America’s oddest—and most iconic). Take in Bryce or Canyonlands or Arches and encounter rock formations you wouldn’t have thought possible. Or Great Smoky Mountains, and hike a few miles on the Appalachian Trail (or all 71 miles of the 2200-mile trail that traverses the Smokies, the most visited park in America).

The opportunities and the vistas are endless, thanks to the wisdom and foresight of our national government. Visit the fruits of that wisdom and foresight. Visit a National Park. Your soul will be refreshed.

Mike Brock, PsyD, LPC, is a counselor and life coach in private practice in Dallas. Later this summer, he will visit the northern Oregon coast and Redwoods National Park.

August 26, 2016 by Rich Malloy

One Good Reason to Fly to Las Vegas

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberatively, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

– Henry David Thoreau

There are two kinds of people in the world–those who would relish a weekend in Las Vegas, and those who upon winning a weekend for two at the finest hotel with tickets to the show of their choice would readily offer them at no cost to the first person who shows interest.

Actually, there are three kinds of people in the world, the third being those who would accept the tickets, fly to Vegas, rent a car, and immediately take I15 north to the forests and canyons of southwestern Utah. That’s me.

Last month, my son, Thomas, my brother Terry, who lives in northwest Canada, and I converged on Las Vegas, set the GPS for St. George, Utah, and headed north to the bristlecone forests and surreal canyons of this small sampling of the Great American Southwest. We focused on three treasures of the National Parks system–Cedar Breaks National Monument (featuring, at over 10,000 feet, some of the most iconic southwestern vistas I’ve ever experienced), Zion National Park (rugged, majestic, mountainous), and, slipping across the state line into Arizona, the north rim of the Grand Canyon (go to the north rim–better than the south, with a more intimate feel and a fraction of the traffic).

With each visit to a National Park, I am reminded of the awe-inspiring natural beauty of America, and my patriotism is stirred knowing of the national commitment we made many years ago to preserve that beauty for all to experience–including the millions of visitors from countries far and wide who visit America specifically to see our parks. Those parks represent some of our country’s most treasured values–respect for the land, protection of our natural resources, a sense of the spiritual that transcends all ethnic, cultural, and religious traditions, preservation of our natural inheritance for all Americans for all time, and showcasing all this at minimal cost (free with my senior pass!).

So, head to Las Vegas. Spend a day there (if you really must!), then shake the dust from your sandals and head north to some of the most beautiful scenery our planet has to offer. You will leave renewed, in body and soul.

March 31, 2015 by Mike Brock

Embrace the Natural World this Summer

As adults, people remember three kinds of family events with great pleasure–meals, vacations and time outdoors . . . The natural world has great power to heal and restore broken families. Children need contact with the natural world. It’s an antidote to advertising and gives them a different perspective on the universe.-Mary Pipher, The Shelter of Each Other

I was reminded of Mary Pipher’s words while hiking last week in the high desert of southeastern Utah. Southern Utah, home of five national parks and several state parks and national monuments, is a playground of rugged mountains, deep canyons, ancient reefs left behind by retreating seas, sandstone rock formations that could fill a football stadium, and arches that have become iconic images of the American West. I could not imagine a vacation that would better fit Pipher’s words . . . except, perhaps, a trip to the ocean, the forest, or an alpine lake.

What does immersion in nature have to do with family values, as Pipher suggests? It reminds us that we are part of something greater than ourselves, something that gives our life meaning and purpose–which is to say, something deeply spiritual. Immersion in nature offers us experiences that allow us to see the world in its purest setting, unmarred by the world of technology and free from its polution.

We live in a world that has become so accustomed to the artificial that God’s nature has barely a chance to be noticed. Far too often, we default to theme parks and resort hotels for our family vacations. We’ve forgotten–if we’ve ever known–the haunting beauty of a deep forest or stark desert, the glory of the sun rising over the Atlantic or setting beyond the Pacific, the summer chill of high mountain air, the brilliance of the night sky, the sensorial joy of embracing a California redwood, the cool cleansing of river, lake, or ocean.

What it all comes down to is getting back to nature, getting back to the world as it is meant to be experienced. And with that comes healing–for ourselves and for our children.

Mike Brock, PsyD, LPC

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“This Land was Made for You and Me”: Visit a National Park this Summer

One Good Reason to Fly to Las Vegas

Embrace the Natural World this Summer

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