Independent Days

This week, on the 4th of July, tens of millions of people across our country joined together with family, friends, and community in celebration of our nation's Independence Day.

The holiday marks the 1776 declaration of the American sovereign people; untethered, undefined by a ruling king and constitutional monarchy.

Freedom, autonomy, and self-governance intended.

On this year's family-favorite holiday, I find myself grounded in gratitude for the very pillars comprising its backbone; the meanings behind the American flag's colors stating it best:

Red, symbolizing hardiness and valor.

White, representing incorruptibility and innocence.

Blue, honoring vigilance, perseverance and justice.

With this year's 4th of July commemorations come gifts of peaceful solitude, gentle reflection, and hopeful horizons.

Perched atop the Verdugo Mountain range; communing amongst the ravens of the San Fernando Valley; gazing out across the City of Angels in her totality, I find solace and certainty in the knowing that we have made it.

Through unshakeable valor,

humble incorruptibility,

and unwavering perserverence,

we have reached the mountain top of our present.

And the view is as magically magnificent as the climb was agonizingly arduous.

The ascent was blinding, back-breaking, and brutal.

Alas, atop this perch's reaches, succeeding a most monstrous mountain climb, the bounty and beauty of its efforts reveal.

And, while lending not to naivety of the mountain ranges that lie ahead, I contemporaneously rejoice in the promisingly spectacular horizons of new found hope.