Here Comes the Sun
If the sun failed to rise one morning, Chase Jones would be the first to notice. Jones, 22, has witnessed the sunrise over 100 times consecutively in the company of 65 different people, some of whom he had never met before. He started his year-long sunrise goal on October 31, 2011 and is just beginning his fourth month.
“[I watch the sunrise] in part just to learn about light in a natural setting and to spend time around the sun,” said Jones. “I wanted to learn how to focus on things that are beautiful in nature and spend every morning preparing myself for the rest of the day.”
As a junior design major at Florida State, Jones uses nature as an artistic palette to gain inspiration and learn about how individuals and nature interact with one another.
“This is part of a year long study: I plan on doing light this year, trees next year, water the year after that, then probably the elderly the year after that, and then like children,” he said. “Just continuing and every year have one focus. I do think that the reason I pick them isn’t at random. It’s something that I’m interested in learning about, but I believe that there’s an underlying connection, that they’re all united somehow.”
For Jones, the sunrise experience also affords him the chance to meet persons of different ages and cultures.
“Going with people is to learn about all the different backgrounds that exist and see all the similarities and really just to learn about people,” said Jones.
Through an article about Jones in the Tallahassee Democrat, many people have joined him in this experience. Once such woman is Judee Pouncey, 68, who has been twice to see the dawn with Jones at Lake Jackson.
“I was really impressed that a college student, a male student, was dedicated to getting up so early,” she said, and enjoyed her time “watching the world waking up” with Jones.
On their second sunrise, Pouncey brought her son, Charlie, from Sarasota, FL and he has since been inspired to continue to watching the sun rise. They have both made an effort to tell their friends and encourage others to include the dawn as part of their day.
“Chase has inspired many people,” Pouncey said. She and her son have made plans to go zip lining in the near future, an action spurred by Jones’ appreciation of nature.
FSU student, Stephanie Irigoyen, 20, has also joined Jones at Lichgate.
“It was odd being up so early in the morning,” she said. She admired the quiet and thought it seemed meant for deep conversation.
Some wonder why Jones, who forced himself to be a morning person, would put so much effort into watching the sunrise when he could watch the sunset instead.
“There’s something powerful about beginning your day with a sunrise and having that be the focus,” he said. “When I began the goal, I was getting up at 5:00 in the morning before the rest of the world was awake. So, you can be up and enjoying something that’s so beautiful and such a crazy phenomenon and be able to have it all to yourself almost and stop to actually show appreciation for it.”
Jones has enjoyed the dawn from many vantage points a Navajo reservation in New Mexico to the Rockies, as well as many different locations in Florida (the gulf, Tampa, and Sarasota). In Tallahassee, he frequents Lake Jackson, Lake Ella, Lake Elberta, Alligator Point, and St. Mark’s. He has been out in eight degree weather with snow on the ground, pouring rain, and thick fog.
According to Jones, “It’s all part of the experience. It’s cool because the sun reacts differently each time. One time there were these really thick heavy grey clouds and I wasn’t expecting anything. For about three minutes it just flashed and there was like this orange glow. The whole sky was this orange glow and I did not expect that color change, but then it faded again. It was pretty amazing to see. If I would have been a person who said it has to be a beautiful clear day, then I wouldn’t have seen that.”
This is not the first time Jones has tried to experience all he can in life. He recently took a cross country bike trip from Portland, OR to Tallahassee. FL.
“I’m all about knowing for myself what something feels like,” he said. Both the bike trip and the sunrise goal are the kind of experiences that breed the passion Jones is striving to find in his life.
Anyone who wants to join Chase can e-mail him at ChaseJones2121@yahoo.com to find a date and location. If you watch the sunrise with him, he challenges you to pay it forward by going out and finding at least three people to watch it with you. In his opinion, it is an experience everyone should enjoy at least once, if not 366 times.
All images courtesy of Chase Jones.
