Relived
There’s something so special about arriving in the middle of the night. Every twist and turn in the road looks the same as the one before. Your head rests on a balled up pair of sweatpants as the trees surrounding you start to blend together with the tall canyon walls. You speed past semi trucks in the passing lane, each time wondering how close a call it is to your death. The tiny headlights coming toward you always grow so much faster than you think could ever be possible. The closest thing you’ll see to shooting stars, as your eyes stay forward to keep you from getting sick.
You roll in, stumble out, throw together a warm (enough) bed, and crawl in; eyes barely open to see the little there is left to see.
But when you wake up the next morning, you’re transported. The walls around you are bright and wet with your breath. You zip open your tent to reveal a field of rabbitbrush and a family of crows, impatiently holding in their calls. You peel back the fabric layers as if you’re revealing a white rabbit to a crowd. Except the crowd is you, and the rabbit is just a scraggly little brown thing staring at you from the edge of the grass.
You look up to find the red sandstone arches above, and take a sharp inhale at the almost alarming difference. It feels odd to carry on with business as usual. Jaded, even. But you stumble out and stuff your sock covered feet into your sandals. Making breakfast surrounded by the most beautiful morning you’ve ever seen with the most beautiful people you’ve ever met.
Most of us have experienced sharing a favorite song or movie with a friend. You sit together on the couch and try to subtly peek over to see their expression as a major plot twist comes and you watch them experience that thing you loved for the first time. Something you remember the feeling of so well, but will never experience again.
Mentoring with Embark outdoors fills my soul in a similar sort of way, and at the same time, in a way that can’t even be remotely compared.
To witness these women appreciate the world in such a new way time after time is something I will never, ever take for granted. To rekindle the instinct to open your eyes. Taking pictures of everything you possibly can. Remembering the extraordinary wonder of this place.
Consider it relived.
