Sunsets never cease to amaze me. The expansive sky, lit up in all of its glory, bursting with beams of light and spectacular color that is magnificent to behold: nature's own fireworks display. The magic lasts just a short while, blessing those lucky individuals that took the time to notice it, and then fades into the night as the world falls into a slumber.

I've been immensely fortunate to see some pretty incredible sunsets in my lifetime. My current apartment, situated on the 42nd floor, faces south west and allows me to view this majestic phenomenon every evening that I'm home in time from work. But, apart from this, I've witnessed sunsets all over the world from Easter Island, to the Serengeti, to the Phi Phi Islands. Each sunset so breathtakingly beautiful, each so unique. Whether the weather, the backdrop, the company I'm with, or the colors that Mother Nature decides to grace us with: from delicate pastels, to fiery reds; sunsets are glorious.

The most amazing sunset I've ever experienced was at the end of last year, just a couple of days before New Years, on board a National Geographic expedition in Antarctica. The upper deck of the ship, which was serving as home to about 110 guests during our voyage, had a hot tub that was accessible to everyone, provided that seas weren't too rough. So, after dinner one evening, two of the ship's staff members joined me in the hot tub as we sailed through the Lemaire Channel on the calmest waters one could ever imagine.

One of the staff members, Karen, was a avian specialist. She had a deep rooted love for nature and animals, particularly birds, that compelled her to travel around the world and study them. The other staff member, Max, was a National Geographic photographer who had explored the far reaches of our little blue planet and had the opportunity to photograph it in all of its wonder. Sitting there and listening to their journeys and experiences was alone enough to make this an unforgettable evening.

As we continued to navigate down the Lemaire, our small vessel carefully pushed small pieces of ice, referred to as growlers, aside as we propelled forward with radiant ice bergs and snow-capped rocky mountains surrounding us. The three of us were in deep conversation about where we spent last New Year, when Karen abruptly stopped and pointed out the stunning atmosphere around us. "Look", she nodded toward the landscape in front of her.

The sky began to transform into the most magical display of light and color that I had ever seen. Tremendous, radiant shades of chartreuse, pinks, purples, and blues that gracefully faded into one another as though it were composing a symphony; each color its own instrument.

We all sat in silence for a moment, listening to the crackling of the ice in the Arctic Ocean, breathing in the crisp, cold air, staring in wonder at the colors as they danced around the mountains, sipping our wine while we remained warm and cozy immersed in the hot water, and genuinely enjoying each others company.

It was Max who finally broke the silence saying, "I'd bet this is the most beautiful sunset in the history of sunsets; that no one in history has ever experienced a sunset quite this beautiful". I literally couldn't do anything but nod in agreement and continue to sit there and soak in that moment with every fiber of my being, letting it completely fill me up so that I could remember it forever. It was a perfect moment, and it was a perfect sunset.

Max did hop out of the tub for a few minutes on a couple of separate occasions to try to visually capture the vista. The funny thing about sunsets though, is even with the best camera money can by (which I'm positive he had), you can never really do it justice. The colors, even if one were to spend years tweaking them in Lightroom or Photoshop, would never be quite the same. As for me? Of course, this was the one time during the entire trip I did not have any of my 3 cameras with me, so all I have is this vivid memory of an experience that I could never capture, or recreate, and no one in history will ever be able to. It was the epitome of bittersweet.

I've thought about this memory and this particular sunset so many times. It's one of those go-to memories for me whenever I'm feeling down, or exceptionally happy, or taking a photograph, or when I've had a little too much wine. Max's words that evening constantly echo through my mind: "No one in history has ever experienced a sunset quite this beautiful."

First off, I can't reiterate enough how powerful that sentence was coming from Max. Here is this person, who has seen more of this world than literally billions of people ever have, or ever will. More beauty. More tragedy. More compassion. More greed. More hope. More despair. More sunsets. More... everything. If he thought this was the most beautiful sunset ever, then I am perhaps one of the luckiest three people that ever lived to have been there to witness it.

Secondly, there are about 17 different ways I've thought about writing this article, because with this one story, this one little experience, this one little dot on the canvas that is my life, there are so many lessons that I could draw from it. I could have written about living in the moment, and putting away technology so that you can fully immerse yourself in experiences. I could have written about being mindful and continuously showing gratitude for things in your life. I could have written about the importance of human connection, and creating authentic, meaningful relationships. I could have written about the transformative experience that is travel, and why I believe everyone should do it. I could have written about how singular moments can change one's entire outlook and trajectory of life. I could have written about the importance of nature conservation, so that future generations can experience similar wonder that I was able to that evening.

All of these topics are important lessons that I hope each one of you consider. But, of the seemingly infinite range of topics and lessons I could have written about, I'm going to write about You.

Yes, you.

Because you, dear reader, are a sunset.

Amazing. Specatcular. Magnificent. Magical. Incredible. Majestic. Breathtaking. Beautiful. Unique. Glorious. Tremendous. Radiant. Stunning. Perfect. You.

Like any sunset, there is only one you, and there will only ever be one you. Yes, others may also be amazing, but you are unique and perfect in the way that you touch people that you encounter along your journey. And, while your time here on planet Earth may be temporary, making way for the next amazing thing, you have the opportunity to show the world how stunning and amazing you are.

Whether you realize it or not, you are impacting the people that encounter you each day. You hold the paintbrush to the canvas that is your life, and you get to decide the colors to use as you paint your sunset and show it to those around you.

It's strange that we humans are so easily amazed by external things, like sunsets, or can easily acknowledge how incredible someone else is, but often fail to recognize, or even realize how amazing we are. And you literally don't need anything to be amazing, you already are. Everything you need it already inside you. (Sure, if you want to get some academic or life experiences under your belt, or have a cup of coffee before you fully unleash all of your amazing, you can. But, it's not required.)

So, next time you're feeling a bit down because you see a colleague or classmate do something awesome while you feel like you're just continuing to ho-hum along; or you're not feeling particularly special, deserving, or worthy, please just stop; because every sunset is radiant, and special, and captivating.

Take a moment. Take a breath. And, take the time to marvel at your own splendor. To give yourself credit for all that you've done. To be optimistic about all that you have yet to accomplish. Then go out there, and show the world the best fucking sunset they've ever seen.

xoxo,
H

About Sunsets