The Power of Feeling Small

This photo was taken during the Jersey Boys Broadway National Tour. We had a day off in Salt Lake City, UT and hiked in a national park near the Great Salt Lake. This became one of my favorite photos ever taken. It was very poetic. It was the epitome of perspective.

My life as a musician has been an adventure I could not be more grateful for. The incredible people I’ve met along the way and the amazing places I have traveled have given my life an incomparable richness. In the midst of those travels I have visited beautiful locations that I can only describe as making me feel small. From being on the ocean on massive cruise ships, to a safari in South Africa, to the wide open horizon of the desert in New Mexico, there is a common feeling. That smallness in the presence of the awesome vastness of nature is something that transformed me. Our lives can become very isolated and our sight line rarely can focus on the horizon with our glowing devices ready to snatch our attention at every waking moment. It’s good to remember to look up and not miss the beauty all around us.

I’m lucky that I get outside and walk with my dog at least twice everyday. I always leave my phone at home. I try to remember to turn my gaze towards the sky and the horizon line on the lake I’m fortunate to live close to. Those points of focus remind me of the power of feeling small. My dad taught me perspective was everything. Nothing can give you perspective like nature. He had a favorite bench he visited to look out at the horizon on top off a bluff by the lakeshore. I’d like to think we shared that similar appreciation of the quiet power and beauty of nature.