Books I’m Reading

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

One specific chapter about permission gave me pause. I have been spending a lot of time contemplating permission versus validation in my personal life, and she simply says that she gives her permission for readers to go and “do” – be creative. She signed my permission slip.

Quote I’m Pondering

“I figure, if a girl wants to be a legend, she should just go ahead and be one.”
Calamity Jane

This quote was beautifully laid out in the center spread of a publication recently put out by REI regarding women in the outdoors. They have created an initiative to advance gender equality in the outdoors: #ForceOfNature. I support this endeavor wholeheartedly!

For me personally, you can see that the quote circles back to the underlying principle of permission as noted above, I struggle with this, and here’s Jane, so rightly telling me, to go for it!

Made Me Smile

If you attended the Justin Ahrens event in May, you heard him speak of his wonderful adventures, including bike rides across country to raise awareness for safe water. During his Wheels4Water treks, he indicated that there is an RV that tags along for support and rest station.

What Justin said that made me smile was that he accomplished never taking a turn at emptying the tanks of the RV… you know, those tanks. Why it made me smile was that not just 24 hours before his talk, I had emptied my own tanks for the first time, and felt so very accomplished.

I am one month in to living full time in my travel trailer and am having a blast, along with some hurdles in my travels. You can read more about highs and lows and the learning process at WatchSylviaGo.com.

Made Me Dance

You may remember that I went back to camp with the Girl Scouts two years ago. I have continued working as a counselor since then, usually once a month with a program called the Outdoor Adventure Club. This program focuses on outdoor experiences for older girls, typically at the stage when girls drop out due to other commitments, or their troop dissolving or other reasons.

I left the Girls Scouts at that age because of peer pressure, it just wasn’t the cool thing to do. As a part of the OAC, I get to watch girls become empowered, learn new skills and work in teams cheering each other on.

I have been able to watch them grow over the last year while we’re rock climbing, playing Capture the Flag in the Garden of the Gods, horseback ride, kayak, and camp. What made me dance, is that I get to participate, and I accomplished repelling down a 180 foot rock face. Heck Yeah! My knees were a little weak when I got down, but I totally danced!

Made Me Think

Aspen is one of my campers in the Outdoor Adventure Club. She makes me laugh, and she actually reminds me of a younger version of me. I was telling the girls that I was going to move into an RV and do some traveling. I honestly told them that, even though I was totally excited, I was also really nervous about it.

Aspen looked at me and simply said, “Don’t over think it, HoneyBear.” (HoneyBear being my camp name.)

What grace that child had! She is wise beyond her years, because that’s exactly what I needed to hear. Amen. Don’t over think it, indeed.