Cherishing the destination
hell with the journey. How do you hold the destination?
If we are going on a hike together, I need to know one very important thing about you.
What type of hiker are you?
There is no wrong answer, really, but the Virgo in me believes there should be.
The thing about hiking with me: I don’t really care much about lifting my feet, grasping for each breath, or staring down at the rocks so I don’t trip and fall.
I am not in it for the exercise or the adrenaline, and I have SHORT legs,
which makes my pace a little less of a stride and more of a constant feeling of needing to catch up.
Truthfully, I don’t really like the hiking part of hiking all that much.
Wild coming from me, I know.
BUT what I DO LOVE.
What brings me back time and time and time again to the vast trails of the Rockies, the Poconos, and the Blue Ridge Mountains is that at the furthest point, when the heart rate comes back to base, when the sweat begins to dry from the brow, is that the landscape I find myself in, is miles and miles away from any civilization.
The grandness of the Earth opens up to me, and there I find the riches.
I don’t rush from that lookout or turnaround of the trail.
Rather, I make it my sanctuary. A perfect space for a PB&J and chat with all the things greater than me. The end of the trail feels like Shavasana because, in many ways, it is.
The heart of Shavasana is an integration. An integration of all movement, breath, and effort, finding homeostasis, a stillness, and a clarity of the mind.
At the end of the effort and exertion, there is a moment to soak it all in, the wonderfulness of it all, the exclusivity of it all. Not rushing from the destination in search of the next journey, but honoring it fully.
So, when I ask you what kind of hiker you are, or even more profoundly, I am more asking what type of person are you?
“Do you allow yourself space, time, and capacity to celebrate, honor, and cherish the work?”
“Can you sit in the quiet to see what it has to teach?”
“Can you stay in the moment just a bit longer before rushing off to the next?”
“Can you embody the joy of work well done?”
What does that feel to think about?
What does that look in your life?
What small shifts lead you closer to that becoming?
Today’s writing is part of the Teachings from the Forest series.
A string of short and potent writings that have lived in the ether around me like seeds all bursting to bloom all at once. All of these writings are inspired by the trees, rivers, flowers, bees, rocks, and dust-covered trails of the forest. So gather your most creative, open self, lace up your hiking shoes, and we shall journey into the trees to begin.
And as you go through your life with all the limiting circumstances that are present can you still find and cherish moments in your life where there is space for this even if it is not all the time? Can you enjoy the journeying WHILE you’re journeying instead of waiting to cherish only at the destination? I mean what if you never reach it!? Do you still make time to create? Do you still get outside in nature when you can for the time you can even if that means immediately turning back around? Do you still find time for rest and reflection even if it’s only for a moment here and there? Do you still get together with friends and community even if you aren’t in perfect alignment on time or energy? Do you keep going despite what is expected or promised? Because I think thats important too!