Waves of distraction. Eye contact avoidance? Why does consciousness require/benefit from ritual? Does nature (beyond us) engage in ritual?
“I just want people to remember that we are nature…to contemplate: when do we become the tea?” … More From the Journal: Matters of Being
I can’t see them, but surely they are playing and happy with life. Yipping. Like I’ve stuck my head into a creek and am hearing the little stones gurgle and roll. … More From the Journal: Earth and Survival
It is the saguaro that tethers its roots to the stones and it is me that runs over them. We are each with instinct and duty for life and yet I do not belong here. … More Saguaros and The Art of Time
And just like the deer, and how the creek left ridges and curls in the sand, did I leave notions of myself, too. Just like that — we take and are taken. … More In Brief, 2018: My Human Craft
We quake in defiance of peripheral death. How we all engage in some form of spastic fervor to never be forgotten. Me saying that most climbers choose their mountains for a reason, could also be me saying that most people choose (however subconscious) what is to be perceived as an obstacle in their own lives. … More From the Journal: Echoes
Funny how I impose my loneliness and social anxiety onto them, in that I refuse in having them acknowledge me by refusing to acknowledge them. It really is a matter of self in these moments. … More From the Journal: Exhales of Air
When the festival began at the Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, I pitched my tent into a corner of the designated grass field, near the barbed-wire fence, so strangers couldn’t flank me on all sides (pro-tip?). I’m glad I did so; when the crowds arrived, tents were stacked next to each other like dominoes—and domino pieces are exactly what I thought of that very night. At 2:45 a.m., I woke to my tent pressed against my face. … More My First Red Rock Rendezvous
When I think about it now, I’m honestly not sure whether I was addicted to the mountain views or to the fascination these trips inspired from others waiting back at camp. Either way, the moment allowed my power to manifest in a way that was visible to the world around me. … More I have a theory.
…the more we nurture the outdoor community the less it matters where we come from and how, or what we look like—but media and society at large unfortunately see things through filtered lenses, and many of us come from places and backgrounds rarely mentioned.
From marginalized history to the epitome of a refugee family’s American Dream, the second post in this series will feature 2 people who have found the great outdoors in their own introspective ways. … More Falling for Nature: A Diné & Asian-American Perspective
The cracks in my skin and the chalk that settles there, skin woven, white lace over burning sand. These are the things I’ve remembered, among things I carry, ephemeral as the action of having written them down: … More Yosemite Notes: The Things I Carry
“The breakdown, BLDG Active explains, is that “when skin damage occurs, the body responds by sending white blood cells,” and thus, HOCL is produced to help fight bacteria and heal. Topically treating wounds with products containing HOCL only reciprocates the way the body heals itself internally.” … More BLDG Active: Skin & Wound Care for the Outdoor Masses
They consider themselves to be quite the team of “unapologetic women of the outdoors…seeking to tell the stories of everyday people doing great things, brave things…” If you’ve ever met any one of them, you know this to be very true. Their energy exudes confidence and rings with the desire to build up community. It is also apparent how passionate they are, especially with the commitment to share their passions with others. Bringing forth varied backgrounds, from writing, multi-media, to analytics, their mission is to fuse genres and create unique and diverse perspectives in order to achieve a more holistic connection with viewers. … More Never Not Collective is Pretty Strong
I know people who have dreamed their whole lives of going to Hawaii, but in my case, Hawaii lured me towards an unexpected depression. I fell right in. For fear of sounding like a privileged prick, let me add, as my mother reminded us hourly: “This is a once in a lifetime vacation!” … More Dither Me This #14: Sleepless in Hawaii
then the Seaway recedes,
we drop into a desert canyon of marzipan
White Cliffs rising to pinch out the sky –
walls, delicate, fragrant flake grains
of sugar onto the path … More Dither Me This #13: Delicatus
All our shoulders are sore. My feet incite anxiety when they get wet. Tired legs. Today is more or less a do-nothing day but my body is in a funk. I’m quiet. Almost somber. Energy low. Raging headache. I ask Hatie for some of her Advil. I’m in an endurance hangover, it seems. I don’t even want to expend the energy talking so I daydream about napping. … More Boundary Waters, Part 3: Memory of Sounds
I can’t explain everything, honestly. We got lost. We might have been in Canada for a few hours, who knows. The water levels this year are high, Hatie says, and the islands don’t look the same – nothing really was matching the map anymore. So we paddled and paddled. Sonya brought an Oru Kayak and her paddling was even more exhausting I’m sure. We also decided to wear stick-on mustaches today; I have my silver leggings, Hatie has gold, and Sonya is decked out in champagne leggings and a matching tutu. We could most certainly be the lost girls of Peter Pan. … More Boundary Waters, Part 2: Lost
Sonya has started the fire and the light against the lake fools you into believing that if you follow the stone steps down to the water’s edge, you’ll fall away, airborne. Yet as romantic as it all may be, the mosquitoes are what keep you sane and seated, layered in clothing and swatting, occasionally smearing blood that is hopefully yours. … More Boundary Waters, Part 1: Inception
Camp 2, 11,200 ft. Today we dropped a cache at 13,400. I carried around 40-pounds and pulled another 45 on the sled. I’m writing this now after dinner and boiling snow while the boys trade off for the next few hours until our Nalgenes fill. Our water always contains random hair and food from prior meals. I’m pretty tired, haven’t slept more than 3 hours each night, and we’ve been here for 4, so far. I’m listening to “Precious Little” by a band named Hiatus. It’s a piano song and the air is frigid, as humidity turns to ice on the tent walls. … More Dither Me This #12: Denali
I step hesitantly across the catwalk, trying not to glance down into the ice-coated gorge. My steps are wobbly, partly because of the mountaineering boots, but more so, terror. I’m offered a rope as we descend a narrow iron ladder to secure it to my climbing harness in case I become apprehensive about falling deep into this yawning cavern. Sweat drenches my woolen undershirt. The inch-long barbed crampons make balancing… … More Dither Me This #6: Risk
Bernadette Murphy is faced with her father’s death, a failing marriage, and a growing sense of worthlessness. She feels the weight of her life, or the lack of, rather, more than ever before. She realizes how unhappy she is, nearing 50, and how the woman she used to be – optimistic, courageous, and empowered – is basically dead. How does she jump-start the remaining 30-40 years she may have left? How does she survive as a single mother? While doing research for a book, she enrolls in a motorcycle safety class, and suddenly her life is changing in ways she could have never imagined. … More Book Review – Harley and Me: Embracing Risk on the Road to a More Authentic Life
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