“Everyone I know starts again sometime in life. It is learning to accept the endings, to embrace the new beginnings, that makes all the difference. ”
In the 16th century the pages of a book were referred to as leaves. This phrase and metaphor has been used since the 1500s to referring to changing course, starting afresh, writing a new page. Turning over a new leaf, whether intentional or forced, offers up a challenge: "to recognize that the circumstances of life are much less important than what we learnabout what it means to become fully human because of them." Joan Chittister in Called to Question: A spiritual memoir.
"If i set my eyes on who i am becoming,
i can submit to the process of change
and commit to work
on my passions
on my capacities
on my mind
and on my body.
and, so long as i breathe,
that commitment to next steps and newness
can last."
~ Justin McRoberts
The wilderness has become part of my (Kelly's) most recent pages. I have expanded my love of hiking and the outdoors to backpacking and camping. This summer I co-facilitated a women's backpacking trip with TrailBound Learning Co founder, Kayli Cross. In the backcountry of Colorado, 7 women and 1 dog covered 26 miles over 4 days of learning, stumbling, and gracefully connecting.
Three Weeks later I headed back to the Colorado wilderness except I brought my two sons to backpack in the San Isabel Forest and to raft the Arkansas River. Kayli, as the best therafriend she is, accompanied us with her dog Levi!
With this new leaf, "courage running wild" was written on our pages. It takes courage to adjust expectations. To adapt. To realize all that lays before you and to dig deep with your feet, your soul, and your paddle or pole. It takes courage to look up and breathe in the expansiveness around you. To question. To be fully exposed both on a mountainside's edge and fully exposed within the limits of your humanity with all your rawest reactions and physical needs. Courage runs wild to yield to rest. To allow joy and pain to cohabitate. To surprise yourself with possibility. To trust and lean on a rock or another living breathing being. Courage runs wild when you take the (bee) sting from out of nowhere and return to that place as your only means of returning "home." Courage runs wild when you say yes. When you say no. When you pause and wait out the storm.
Courage runs wild when you poop in the forest. I said what I said.
"Every ordinary thing is infused with mystery." Barbara Holmes
How does courage run wild for you?
Parenting, caregiving, and teaching young people has a way of bringing us to terms with our own humanity (our strengths, desires, limitations). We invite you to turn a new leaf (page) in how you show up in the roles you serve in and the experiences you share with young people.
Here's a little guided practice--one that Kayli and I used with the participants on our women's backpacking trip. Find a piece of paper/journal and a writing utensil. It just makes this whole "turning over a new leaf" thing more tangible.
Sit with these prompts and jot down a few words to complete them.You decide how to interpret each prompt.
I intend...
I bring...
I have...
I need...
And finally, I will leave you with some photos from backpacking and camping in the Rio Grande and San Isabel National Forests. Perhaps you’ll discover something mysterious in each of them!
