{2020} Wild Diaries :: Day 1
Ready, Intention Set, DRIVE!
The evening before I left for my 2020 Into the Wild journey, I made some wishes upon the New Moon in Cancer. Formulating my intention for this years journey:
“May this trip expand me. Open my senses. Give me time in stillness. Deepen my perceptions + awareness. May guidance, clarity and a deeper sense of purpose flow through me; so that when I return I can slip forward with confidence and ease into the ways that I serve”
I set off at 4am on June 23, 2020.
Jade (my trusty steed) packed:
Travel Coffee Mug riding shotgun
Audio Book Downloaded: “The Far Pavillions” by MM Kaye
**Each year as I drive, I’ve chosen an enriching fictional novel to get lost in. Leaving me with a vivid image of a time in history and the things that the hero/heroine must overcome in order to fill their Personal Destiny (wink wink). Plus getting lost in a story helps me pass some of the more exhausting hours
on the road alone.
Recommendations: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant , Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden,
Clothing for weather ranging from 30-100 degree temperature changes.
Light weight camping gear with enough food + water for a couple of days.
Computer, books, journal, oracle cards, etc etc etc
**I'll share more on my packing essentials at a later date.
As I launch into my drive there is always a sense of curiosity. Curiosity is the thread of these adventures, that without it, there wouldn’t be any point. These adventures are not your typical road trip. While I have my destination set, I’m truly there for what I find in between.
Senses engaged, intuition pointed towards the navigational beacon, and a sense of emptiness.
Empty of concrete plans.
Empty of expectations.
Empty and ready to be re-filled.
This year I knew I’d be taking a longer route. Up Highway 395, rather than my usual I-15. A few considerations that went into this:
My family I stay with in Salt Lake were deep in their personal quarantine, so why not take a new route for this years journey. I’ve been up the 395 but always speeding along without time to be curious and engage my senses. The past 6 months it’s been calling me.
Lone Pine - Alabama Hills - Bristlecone Forest - Convict Lake - June Lake - Mono Lake - TREES!
On a day like today; ie Launch Day, I typically do a logical thought process. The above is an example of things that have been long time places of interest. Sometimes I’ll do a mental map out, otherwise I’ll set my GPS on a target and head towards it and see how my energy is along the way. Always CURIOUS. Always OPEN, to the plan changing.
In this case focusing on nature more than towns, due to Covid-19, I set my GPS for The Alabama Hills.
My departure would put me there around breakfast and coffee refuel time. While I would have loved to have a night to camp in the Hills, the weather and my long term driving trajectory weren’t ideal to make this a day long stop over. So I grabbed a cup of coffee and a bagel, saluted Ms Mount Whitney as I found an ideal rock outcropping to tuck into solitude for my first stop along this journey.
Age has taught me take breaks in my drive, before I’m exhausted. I used to barrel through 8 hour drives, but now my body and honestly my curiosities guide me otherwise..
The Alabama Hills with the majestic backdrop of the Sierras were a perfect place to nourish. It took this time to also breath into the space. Pausing for an energizing meditation. Grounding into my intentions, taking time in stillness, listening to the whispers of nature.
I heard:
“I pledge allegiance to the Mountains”
A smile crosses over my face. My Wild Anthem! This statement is more true to me than any other vow I could make. My allegiance is to nature. These journey's have revealed just how much it has to teach me.
In fact a day after I sat in this very spot, a 5.8 earthquake rumbled the hillsides and created tremendous rock slides. The power that Mother Nature holds, reminds us just how little control we really do have over our own lives. She reminds us that the gentle balance resides in the harmony we can discover in mind, body and spirit by surrendering to the nature will that guides us. Nature has reminded us over the years that there is a very simple balance, but the tipping point of not maintaining that balance can have catastrophic events. When we try to control that balance, it consequently can never be in balance.
Harmony is the halfway point between an inhale and an exhale. The simple pleasure of life between birth and death. It's the joy of being... exactly where you are. Living with what is gone and what will come, and moving along your personal path with the inspiration of a higher guiding force finding delight within the curious nature of the journey.
I’m sharing the second half of day through the podcast. Join me as I share what nature took from me and taught me on Day 1.
I’m engaging the senses this year as I share my Wild ride. I encourage you to join in on the listening + the reading journey as I share different aspects of my adventure through both outlets. Above I’ve shared a few of my favorite images that summarize my first day Into the Wild for 2020.