Through the Lens

Free Spirit

Hailey's POV

I turned off the shower and stepped out, wrapping a towel around myself as I hummed the tune of the song stuck in my head. I wiped the steam from the mirror and inspected myself, making sure I'd got all the paint off my face and arms from painting the back shed that morning, before I brushed my hair and wrapped it in a towel.

It was a beautiful spring day, the warm breeze blowing into my bedroom as I got dressed and ready for the day. I'd finished the shed in record time, so it was only noon and I figured I should make use of the nice weather. I threw on some shorts and a tank top, slid on some flip flops and tied my hair in a knot at the top of my head before grabbing my keys and heading out the door.

I drove toward my grandma's, knowing she'd probably love to spend some time outside, and sang along softly to the song on the radio. I loved that spring seemed to have arrived, the weather had been unbelievable the past couple of weeks and it seemed that winter was officially behind us and summer was on it's way. We didn't get quite as much rain as the coast, but our winters were a bit colder and warm weather often crept up on us in late spring.

My graduation from University had left me with what felt like unlimited time these days, which was nice but a little strange. I'd been able to visit my grandma every day and take my nephew out quite a bit more, helping out my brother with the family business when needed and puttering around my house getting my garden ready for summer. I still spent most of my time outside, wandering around the forest or hiking around the lake, taking photos and soaking in the peace nature always provided me.

Everyone kept asking me what I planned to do now that I was finished school and, as always, my answer was the same. I wasn't exactly sure, I'd always been someone with a lot of interests, too many passions to nail anything down to one. I was a bit of a dreamer in that sense I guess, a 'free spirit' as they called me, just tending to go wherever the wind blew me and perfectly content with my random and seemingly ever changing paths. I'd never understood what was so wrong with wanting to follow more than one path, I always felt I was blessed to love so many different things.

It wasn't that I was unmotivated or not driven like people perceived, I just loved to explore new things and have new experiences, which often led me in different directions. I worked hard at many different things, constantly finding new passions and things to explore. I was no stranger to hard work once I put my mind to something, and I always started what I finished, it was just that I started and finished a lot of different things.

I loved nature, I always had. Growing up where I did, I spent a lot of time outside exploring the forest, swimming in lakes, climbing trees and riding my bike wherever my legs would take me. I'd never been one to spend a lot of time watching TV or laying around inside, the world outside had always been way to exciting for me to be bored.

My love for nature had sparked my love of photography, wanting to capture the beauty I saw around me. My love for photography had opened my eyes to capturing moments, which compelled me to create them. I was constantly snapping photos of my family and friends when they weren't looking, loving the way you could capture someone's personality or mood in a single snapshot and freeze it forever. I'd done some freelance photography here and there, but I was careful not to let it start to feel too much like a job. I never wanted to lose the creative side of it by feeling like I had to get a particular shot or force things to happen to meet some deadline instead of letting it happen naturally.

I had earned a degree in environmental science, and I had no idea what I planned to do with it. I liked school, I enjoyed learning and I figured studying the environment seemed like a good idea since I spent so much time outside anyways. I realize that it wasn't the most specific area to go into, but it left me with a lot of options to do different things. I've never been one to be driven by money when it came to deciding what I wanted to do. I'd much rather be passionate about what I do and live a simple life than do something I hate for a lot of money.