Gratitude

As I began my ritual hike of McAfees knob, I should have known what lay ahead. Apparently, I had yet to learn a particular lesson. This only dawned on me about a mile in, when I realised my 'new' hiking boots were beginning to give me some hot spots. These 'new' hiking boots had tried to speak to me earlier in life when I was in Maine hiking the 100 mile wilderness, the same shoes I had mailed home because they hurt my feet too much, the same shoes I had on today.

As I grappled with myself whether to continue and suck it up, or have the guts to tell myself it was ok to turn around, without going all the way to the top, my boots began to give me blisters. The hard head in me won, and my feet didn't really hurt that bad (yet), so I continued to the top.

The only problem is, when you get to the top, you have to turn around and walk all the way back. I am still questioning several hours later why I thought it was a good idea to break in my shoes on a short 7 mile hike!

Shortly on my way down the trail, I encountered a gentleman hiking up. We stopped and made small talk, instead of the simple wave or hello. He asked if it was crowded up top and if I was a day hiker. I told him of my past trail adventures and he mentioned his desire to thru hike the trail. He said he had planned to hike this summer but was hit by a car. He then proceeded to tell me that he had just learned how to walk again!

When we parted ways he gave me a new found strength to keep moving and the gratitude for the fact that I even had legs to walk with. So, despite my lessons learned about breaking in new shoes, I was also given the opportunity to experience extreme gratitude. For that, my blisters were worth it.

Growing Pains...

My body propels forward as my heart stands still.

Tearing through astral flesh and bone,
It returns to it's cavity as a rock in a slingshot, missing a peice.

Inhaling, my feet grow roots...
Grounded by the earth, as tall as a tree.
I am Whole.
I am Home.
I am Love.

What goes around comes around

This summer, and particularly this month has been a whirlwind of events and changes. All good, sometimes seemingly less than good at times, but coming full circle none the less. Amongst all the happenings I have been experiencing a few have stuck out . In between things like: signing up for a yoga teacher training program in Asheville, NC , returning to my mothers farm in Virginia for the fall to go back to school, leaving Josh behind in Savannah to finish up his program at SCAD, quitting my job in order to do all these things, some 'coincidences' have occurred.

Now, anyone who knows me, will understand that I use the term coincidence loosely. I am a firm believer in the "things happen for a reason" scenario, and that we are truly the creators of our own experience. These coincidences occur more commonly once we start to connect to our true selves, our god selves, or the divine inside us and others.

So, unsurprisingly, as I work on the latest issue of The Healthy Alternative which features advertisers and articles based on building a community here in Savannah, I become a piece of the puzzle. Through a series of people and events:

1. Meeting a friend David Acuff, through Josh's bike restoration business.
2. Which led us to GreenDrinks last Tuesday evening at Hang Fire.
3. Where we heard toastmasters of the evening DaVena and Tony Jordan speak on behalf of their organization AWOL, All Walks of Life.
4. Which is an organization working on providing low income families computers and Internet access, among many other things in the Savannah community.
5. Of whom I spoke at length during a lunch meeting with my friend Michael Elliott of the Union Mission, who told me it would be for my greater good to start a blog!

Which all led me back to my computer working on the 'One Small Step' section of our periodical. And it just so happens that my selection for this September issue is about recycling your old computers to local organizations and charities.

A light bulb turned on when I said to myself "Why don't we feature AWOL as the local charity and get our readers involved in the community too?"

Suddenly I had become the catalyst for change and growth. It felt similar to seeing a rainbow, or eating something from your childhood, or the expansion after a yoga class. If all this happened in around a week, imagine what can happen when we open ourselves up to the possibilities of connecting to our peers and our community on a regular basis....

Look for the September issue of The Healthy Alternative featuring:

AWOL,All Walks of Life, Inc.
P.O. Box 15846
Savannah, GA 31416
Donations can also be made online. www.awolinc.org

What goes around, comes around.

What's all the fuss about?

This is my first attempt at a blog post, on my first blog ever. Not such a big deal to many, right? Wrong. The idea of a blog may be simple enough, but to actually create one can be a daunting task for members of the general public. Daunting for me, however because I am a perfectionist.

I lack the skill to forgive myself if I create or make something that sucks, or at least sucks according to me. This has helped me to procrastinate the majority of things I have done or never started for most of my life. I have put off even the thought of this blog for ages just because I would have to: think about what to write, write something wonderful, take amazing pictures that completely grasp the concept of the post, redesign the layout of the blog to match my non-existent website, build my website to host my matching blog, etc, etc.

At this point, this blog is not only the beginning of a blog, but the beginning of a new process of letting go . I think every time I sit down to just write, it will be a release of perfectionism, a moment of forgiveness, the loss of a layer. Even the actual event of hitting publish, for the world to see will be a win. A chance to allow myself the freedom to be vulnerable. Whoa, but no not me... I can't start a blog!