Reflections on my Recent SHT Hike

What started out to be important (the miles), very quickly became ‘in the moment’.  And more about taking the time to stop:  to see, to taste, to breathe in and merge with.  It was about letting everything unfold each day.  According to nature’s plan.  And my intuition.

This journey was not at all about the hike.  But rather the exploration of myself.  With complete freedom.  I didn’t want for any thing or any one.  (Except for maybe a lighter pack.)  I was filled with such a sense of peace.  Even in the moments of what seemed dangerous, I knew all would be fine.  Even if I died.   

It reminded me of how, after both my mother's & aunt’s deaths (I took care of them for several years, and we all lived together), they came to me in a dream and said, “Don’t worry about anything.  Everything is fine and beautiful.  If you could only see.”

I so connected with this on this journey.

I have always been a free spirit.  I have traveled all over:  hiked, hitch-hiked.  In the U.S., in different places in the world, but, even so, I have never tasted as much freedom as this.  Until you’ve had it, and then not , you could not know true appreciation.

I realize that I am the master of my own freedom:  we all are.  It is a state of mind.  We create our own feelings by focusing in on what is pleasant and what is not:  that is our choice.  I fall in love – not with the person who necessarily stands before me – but I have chosen to focus my attention on that person – and  then'' I '' create the feeling inside me , love.  I could focus that same attention on my dog:  unconditional (I do).  A flower, a man, (I’ll pick the dog every time).  This realization is something I won’t forget. We have so much power over everything ,depending on how we chose to see it. 

Often, on this journey, there are no words to describe where I am or who I am at any particular moment.  Among velvet red mushrooms, verdant moss, and cool waters surrounding me from streams to rivers to ponds, I am home.  Those are the only words I know.
I LOVE THIS LIFE !

 It's Weird to be Home by M'Larky

It’s weird to be home.

I can’t imagine how

claustrophobic it would be,

Had I been gone longer.

I’d be a Neanderthal.

It’s a definite adjustment;

being indoors.

I really could camp for (part of)

the rest of my life.

Without the 38 pound backpack,

thank you very much.