The first floor of the Museum of Natural History is where I spent most of my visit, wandering the dimly lit and softly illuminated areas with moderated steps, pausing slowly at every display, camera set to capture everything I could with the least amount of disruption and a heart open overfilling with loveliness.

Walking through the Spitzer Hall of Human Origins to fall into the Ross Hall of Meterorites, it all started to blur together in a dizzying way into the Guggenheim Hall of Minerals and the Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems.  I wouldn’t even know these names if not for the helpful map I was given after paying the voluntary entry fee. When you’re actually there, it’s a fantastic journey of just following the pathways, circling around and back and sitting down for long moments of contemplation and just marveling at the beauty you’re sitting in the middle of.

There’s something very much like peace and euphoria that came over me in the time I spent in this part of the museum. Not just from the sheer beauty contained here, but also the history embedded in every particle of items displayed. The phrase, “Be humble for you are made of earth, be noble for you are made of stars ” that I see almost everyday overused on my tumblr dashboard has honestly never felt more relevant than when I was here.

Too much? At least I didn’t post my notebook pages filled with notes, notes and more notes. I really can’t wait to go back,  it surreal how much I enjoyed the time I spent here, truly.

~m