Zooming to the Arctic

It’s that time again. Adventuring to the Final Frontier. 

As I begin this post, I am on my way to Anchorage. And as I stare at the world below, it’s just hit me how much I’ve seen through the tiny oval/square-ish window of a Boeing. Oceans, cornfields, rivers, mountains, glaciers, forests, cities and towns, sunrises, sunsets, storms. Half the time I don’t know what I’m looking at, but I often wonder about what’s happening all the way down there. 

Whenever I fly over places like Alaska, or other areas where there are no cities or people, my imagination tends to run a little wild. Has that land ever seen a human footprint? Will it ever? How would I get there if I wanted to go? Where am I? How much snow is really on that mountain? How long has that glacier been there? Will it always be there? How many animals are down there?  I wonder if I was down there, would I finally see a moose? What kind of fish are in those rivers and lakes? I bet they’re huge. Where are the bears? I bet they’re huge too. How tall is that hill? How many trees are down there? How long does that river travel? I love looking at the clouds. I love seeing the shadow of the plane on the world below. I don’t love thinking about how high we are, but I try not to let my mind wander quite that much.

Pictures through those tiny windows never do the land justice, but often times, I try to get a quick shot. 

(***I’m 76% positive we just almost collided with another airplane. It was really close and it zoomed just below us. It didn’t look like a commercial jet. I bet it was Sarah Palin. Reminder to google this once I land). 

I can already feel the air cooling down outside as we get closer and closer to the arctic. One day I’d like to drive to the Arctic Circle. Just to say I’ve done it.

(***Update: I was not able to find any information on jets almost colliding mid-air above Canada. Nor was I able to find out the current location of Sarah Palin. I may have been wrong.)

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Some people practice, practice, practice.

I simply buy a ticket to see one of my favorite Broadway performers, Kristin Chenoweth, in her first solo Carnegie concert in 10 years.

Yes, that's right. My road to Carnegie Hall was pretty darn easy.

I've wanted to go to this concert hall for as long as I can remember and it did not disappoint.  This would mark the 2nd time I've seen Cheno in concert and it was so amazing to see her at this venue. It's clearly a special place for the performers and you can just sense their excitement, even from the nosebleed seats.

She looked absolutely stunning the entire night and throughout the concert, special guests were introduced and sang alongside her.

I can't even imagine what that would be like.

She sang a lot of her hits, of course, a few opera tunes and it was an all around wonderful night.

Carnegie Hall is a beautiful venue. I would love to see another concert there.

When nature meets therapist

"Do you remember who you were before the world told you who you were supposed to be?"

This weekend I decided to try something a little out of the box. A few weeks ago, I had found a coupon on livingsocial for a two hour session of ecotherapy up in Marin County. It sort of peaked my interest. I had never even heard about ecotherapy before, so I did what one would always do in that situation. 

I brought out the google box. 

Turns out, the field of ecotherapy is fairly young to the western world. To the indigenous world, it’s sort of the basis of their very existence. From what I was able to learn from the few hours I spent researching is that ecotherapy is just as it sounds. Using nature and our natural environment as a tool of healing and comfort. Basically going back to the very foundation of who we are and allowing the technological and literal world around us to fall away. 

Basically communing in the woods. 

How many times have we all wandered out for a hike or a bike ride or woken up early to watch the sunrise or taken time to see the sunset? Why? And don’t we always feel so much better after we’ve done so? I know that there have been so many times this past year where I’ve just craved being outside, taking in fresh air, letting my head clear. 

And for that reason, ecotherapy just made sense. Of course this is an actual thing. The idea of having intentional, guided time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life is a no brainer. What ecotherapy helps us do is take those moments and purposely use them to get a deeper understanding of who we are and why we are the way that we are. It takes idea of therapy, removes the four walls of the therapist office and brings us back to the simplicity of who we were before the world distracted us. 

Interesting concept.

Right now, I’ve become fairly interested in Native American history and culture (I blame all those episodes of Dr. Quinn) and have been learning about Indigenous healing rituals and natural medicine. I love the idea of vision quests and how ingrained they are with the land and the earth. It boggles my mind that we don’t always understand or seem to acknowledge our connection to the earth. We breath the same air that a tree just created. How can we not see that? It makes a lot of sense and very much reminds me of all the lessons I learned while I was with the Achuar community.  That time in the jungle was one of my most in-tune and peaceful places I’ve been in my life. 

So, I ended up buying the deal out of curiosity and this weekend, headed up to China Beach State Park in San Rafael for the morning. Though I understood the concept of the session, I’ll be honest, I had no idea how it would all play out. 

Inwardly, I felt like one of three things could happen:

•  This would be a fantastic experience that led me on a greater path of inner peace and enlightenment

• This would be a moment of ultimate hippie woo woo and it would lead to an even bigger life movement where I stopped shaving, became a Vegan and started to use hemp oil by the gallon.

• This would just be a fun morning out in the woods. No big changes, just a little more educated. 

      Though the idea of option B becoming a reality was the most entertaining, I’ll admit, I’m crossed somewhere between A and C. 

I arrived at the park just as the rest of the group began to gather. There were about 8 of us altogether (all women---shocking) and our Guide for the day, Guide D, met us near the start of a trail. We had to climb about 300 yards up a fairly steep hill to get to the area that we were going to be meeting in. All of the woman in the group were so different. Group therapy is a bit odd, especially the first time you all meet (and in this case, the only time). You’re expected to automatically be open to talking about challenging issues and sharing pieces of yourself. Two things that are just not natural to me.

Maybe it’s a good thing they’re strangers. 

The topic for this session was taming your inner-critic (aka: here comes the hippie). But it actually makes a lot of sense.  Who doesn’t have that voice in your head that tells you you’re not good enough or not doing enough or not being enough? We focused a lot on figuring out what that voice is, how we tame it and how it can be used as a source of strength (sometimes). Guide D shared some poems with us and gave us an overview of ecotherapy.  We did a few physical activities (minimal on the physical, but we moved around). And we shared feelings. I really enjoyed hearing the other women talk. I liked that we were all of different ages and backgrounds. It was neat hearing people share their struggles and doubts. Guide D did a pretty good job of creating a safe space for all thoughts and feelings. I can see why that would be incredibly important. 

It was a lot to take in in a two hour period. Almost a bit too ambitious---especially for me. I’ve learned that my brain tends to go a million miles and hour----I have lots of thoughts….but what I have trouble with is processing. It takes me awhile to filter through and think about all those thoughts…so two hours was too short, but it help me start to see what needs work on. One of the things that resonated most with me was this idea of “the shoulds.” That inner dialogue that we have that makes you feel like you should be somewhere else, anywhere else.  That where you are at in life at that moment just isn’t good enough. I should be doing this…I should be at this point in my life. I’m in my 30’s shouldn’t I be…

All of those questions and feelings take you away from where you are right now. I’m a firm believer that things happen for a reason, but I easily fall down that shoot of “should bes.” Whether it’s a personal life question or a professional one, those darn I shoulds can be an absolute killer. Ecotherapy is apparently good for people who suffer from depression and anxiety. I can see why. There is something so calming about being in nature. They also say that these sorts of therapies are good for life transitions. Big and small. I think that is how historically the Native American’s saw them. Growing into adulthood, getting married, changing careers.

 It’s not quite the same as meditation, but I really enjoyed having a guided purpose. It was much more than just saying, “I’m going to go out for a hike.” But more of a “I’m going to go out for a hike because I am struggling through this and I know the land can help me work through things.”

Guide D gave had us gather visuals of ourselves. I picked a nice green leaf. And he also had get something that represented the critic inside of us. Mine was a rock that was shaped like a slice of pizza (go figure). I won’t go into the nitty gritty of the exercise, but it did give me an opportunity to acknowledge and understand somewhat better the anxieties that I have and why they are there. 

And I liked being outside and seeing the vast world around me. 

So much better than being in a therapist’s office----only looking out from a tiny window.  I’d like to try it again. Maybe go on a day long quest as opposed to the short, introduction. There really wasn’t enough time to digest it all in one sitting (maybe that’s why they make this one so cheap).  I’m definitely going to research ecotherapy more and see what else I can learn about it.

I also think I’d make a fantastic ecotherapy guide. 

So you better watch out Guide D.

Rising with the gods

"There's a sunset and a sunrise every day. You can choose to be there for it, you can choose to put yourself in the way of beauty." -Cheryl Strayed

This week I found myself back in Colorado with a little bit of free time to fill (if you can call waking up at 5am "free" time.) During my research of amazing hikes and views across America, I caught wind of a morning walk before sunrise at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. 

Every time I head to Colorado Springs, I at least try to drive through the area because those rock formations are just that beautiful. I could only imagine what the red rocks looked like in the early morning sunlight. 

As much as I love sleeping (read: a lot) I decided that I would get up super early the morning before my event and watch the sunrise in the midst of all those beautiful formations. 

I don't know if I've ever been so blown away by the views. A 5am alarm was more than worth it.

I'm glad I got up about an hour and a half before sunrise because I managed to get myself lost and the GPS lady is really mean in the morning (I think at one point, while driving around in my car, I yelled, "why are you so angry?" Yes. At my phone). Clearly, our Lady of Navigation is not a morning person.

Once I finally found the park, it was still pitch black and of course my over active imagination took over. I got out of my car, immediately ran back into it and then sat on the roof (serial killers, snakes and bears couldn't possibly find me up there right?) I at least had time to figure out which direction sunrise would be in, using the compass on my phone for the first time....Girl Scouts step aside. 

The sounds of nature when the rest of the world is asleep, is pretty impressive and reminded me of my time in the jungle. I could hear all sorts of bugs and insects around me and the stars were so bright. The park has a ton of rabbits which really freaked me out. Contrary to popular belief, rabbits hopping around in the dark are anything but cute. When you don't know they're your furry friends, and instead imagine them to be any sort of fanged creature, you too would jump at every slight sound. 

At least they got my heart pumping. 

Once 6:30am hit, the sun started to peak from the horizon. Within a few minutes, the sky started to change with all sorts of colors and shadows. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. It was one of the most humbling experiences. To put yourself in the middle of creation, to realize how small you really are, and to see so much beauty surrounding you regardless of your struggles or complaints, can be such a blessing. 

It's like Cheryl Strayed said, we can choose to find and experience the pretty in this world, and if we're willing to give up a little (like precious sleep), we may be rewarded in a spectacular way. 

After watching the sunrise and the colors start to fade, I walked around part of the park for about an hour. The light on the rocks was just as stunning as the sky. It was burnt red in some areas, orange in others. At this point, the park started to fill up with other visitors. I wanted to go to each of them with my pictures and say, "look what you could have seen if you'd just gotten here half an hour ago!", but instead I was thankful for the moments I got alone amongst those gods and the quiet mediation I was able to do before heading into a hectic day. 

The universe gave me a gift that day, I hope to remind myself of that often. 

Colorado for the win....again.