All Around You By Sturgill Simpson

All Around You by Sturgill Simpson

This is a song that I hold near and dear to my heart. I must have listened to this song a thousand times while I was on rolls for fire. Every single night I listened to this song to fall asleep. It put me in such a relaxed and comfortable state, despite being pushed to my physical (and sometimes mental) maximum day in and day out. I found comfort in the sound of the music, the instruments alone throughout the song. The lyrics only added to that. In a world that seemed to always be falling apart, this song was a saving grace. Mind you, I was away from home, during a global pandemic, forced to work in small groups for months, in some of the most rugged terrain of the west, under constant stress, with the threat of fire all around me. The opening lines, "There will be days / The sun won't shine / When it seems like / The whole world is against you" were so relatable and true. Literally. Sometimes the smoke of the fires was so thick that the sun couldn't shine through. Somedays all our work would be for nothing, I would break a tool, snap a bootlace, spill my water, or drop my lunch. It seemed as if the world was against me. The following verse allows for balance and offers peace. "Don't be afraid / Life is unkind / You can let go of the pain / if you choose to." And it was that simple, you can choose to let go of the pain. Sometimes this isn't always as simple. But in the day to day, dealing with minor things going wrong, it is that simple. It reminds me of a quote I once heard, "If it comes, let it. If it goes, let it." Simple. Don't carry around the weight of every little thing that doesn't go your way. Deal. Move forward. Sturgill goes on to mention that, "There will be nights / That go on forever / Like you're long, lost at seas / Never to be found" and boy if I didn't feel that on some night shifts. There were times where we would be up all day arrive at a fire late in the evening, and be assigned to the dreaded night shift. These nights felt as if they would go on forever. All I wanted was to lay down and sleep. Instead I was trudging through ash and mud, looking for hot spots to stir up and put out. For hours on end. It could get miserable. But alas, the chorus allows for some light again. "Time slips away / Skies fall apart /  Revealing to all / A universal heart / Glowing, Flowing, All around you." As time goes on and barriers come down, perspective is gained, and new thoughts flow freely, we begin to realize that we're all connected. We're all part of this, together. It takes each of us. And if we look close enough we can see it happening right in front of us every day. Whether you find your peace in the stars, in a God, in nature, or in the people in your life; it's All Around You.