ALIVE
By Jenifer Nii
Photography: VisitUtah.com
I’ve never been outside. I’ve been in Utah for most of three decades, and until six weeks ago, I’d never been outside. Classroom to practice room to newsroom to office. I’d existed. Inside.
Recently I was told my brain is deteriorating, and I’m on my way toward … I’m not sure what. So: I need to see, and hear, and live in this world. I need to do it now.
Six weeks ago, I left my Salt Lake City home in an RV and have lived Utah. Dead Horse Point, the San Rafael Swell. Desert rock and muscled forest. Screaming winds and rain. I have lived unplugged in beauty, and awe, and terror. I am so scared. It is so new. But I am alive, living.
Jenifer Nii is a former classical pianist, newspaper reporter, marketing hack and the world’s luckiest playwright. She’s a nomad now, but will always call Utah home.