Monday, September 10, 2007

impermanence

I am back from my Outward Bound trip. I'm not sure where or how to start sharing my experience. Some things I can recall and articulate fairly easily, other aspects may take weeks or a lifetime.

I embarked on this journey with 11 amazing, diverse, brave and bold friends, who quickly became family. Together, we shared our hopes, fears, meals, struggles, laughter, tears and transformations as we meditated, backpacked, fought to survive in a violent hail storm at the top of a mountain, learned how to dig cat holes, had our breath taken away by the beauty of nature, survived our solos, learned how to survive in the wilderness and to leave no trace, practiced yoga at sunrise, held each other's hands as we faced our deepest fears and our biggest challenges, listened with open hearts, shared what we held within our vulnerable hearts, hiked at 4 AM to the top of a mountain to watch the moon rise, followed by Venus and then the sun, lied on our backs in an open meadow and gazed at the stars, awoke to gorgeous sunrises every morning, and drank more iodine treated water than any human should ever have to.

There was nothing that was off limits in our sharing. We were all there to grow, heal or let go and everyone of us succeeded in the most astonishing ways. I have been forever changed by the 11 people with whom I shared the last 11 days. I was anxious about how I would feel after I had to leave them and come back to my world. I am struggling with the re-entry. But I already feel so much is different. I hoped that this trip would help me put some things into perspective as well as be a symbolic journey through the end of one emotional and difficult stage of my life into a new one.

As I sat on the top of the mountain, above tree line, surrounded by an endless expanse of rocky peaks and open sky, I felt myself letting go of the things I had been carrying - in my heart and in my mind. I left them there, on top of that mountain, and as I put on my 50 pound backpack and turned to begin my descent down the mountainside, I felt lighter than I have felt in a very long time.

1 Comments:

At 10:29 PM , Blogger Higgy said...

Rock on, Punky! Sounds like an excellent experience - and I hope you can continue to leave things on top of that mountain as you continue through life!

 

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