The Feeling Of Being Tiny

August 05, 2025

With every clikety-clack of the train inching deeper into the mountainous terrain, I felt myself shrinking – a fleeting, precious feeling of insignificance. Engulfed in the colossal landscape, a quiet introspection took hold.

At Lauterbrunnen, I stood in front of unyielding and majestic mountains. I had to crane my neck to even have a glimpse of the sky. Feeling tiny and irrelevant was a humbling and grounding experience.

The Alps stood for thousands of years. My ambition, fears and achievements – which seemed to be all-important just days ago – now were laughably small. That smallness felt like freedom. Freedom from the shackles of expectation, replaced with profound insignificance.

The immutable mountains were stoic, impervious and unperturbed. Nothing I do will ever change the Alps. My successes will not make them taller, my failures will not make them crumble.

I suddenly didn’t feel afraid of failing, taking chances, experimenting. There was no duress of expectation in Lauterbrunnen – there was only the indifferent beauty in the quiet vastness of the world.

Feeling tiny was liberating. Empowering. Unlimited.

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