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As most of you know, I spent about 9 weeks on the road, traveling clockwise around the country from Michigan back to Oregon. I saw places I’d always wanted to visit, and spend time with dear friends along the way, in some cases for the first time in real life. It was all more beautiful, more powerful, and more life changing then I could have imagined. As Stick once said to Elektra, “Some lessons cannot be taught. They must be lived to be understood.” And I got to live some really good lessons.
It’s amazing how we get stuck in patterns in our life, even good patterns. Diligence and predictability have characterized most of my life. That’s not only my personality but I had to prove growing up that I wasn’t lazy or afraid of work. Taking a vacation longer than a week was something I hadn’t done in my adult life. So living on the road with just a general itinerary, making up the details as I went along, felt pretty scary at first. But I learned to trust life to work out, and learned that people are very understanding and accommodating when plans get messed up.
I’ve also never liked traffic. If I was driving somewhere I wanted to get there. So living on the road was especially good for me to experience, resting in the moment, enjoying my vehicle and slice of the road, enjoying the freedom that I had, and trusting the future would be taken care of. I didn’t always know where I was going to camp ahead of time, but something always worked out. After 10,000 miles, I can say there are a lot of good drivers on the road!
I learned that I am more resilient and resourceful than I give myself credit for. Between propane tanks nearly falling off, a flat tire on the side of the Arizona Highway in high winds, eaves I couldn’t see in my mirror that dug into the side of my trailer and tore up my awning, protective siding that started blowing off in Texas, and battery electrical wires that got sheared in half from the trailer chains, I learned that I survive what life throws at me. And that there are some amazing and helpful people everywhere.
Now that I’m back I want to continue living the lessons I’ve learned, trusting that this adventure is good, and that I am up to the task. I will be working on finishing the books and creating the material that I want to share with the world. I will also be training part-time at a local gym and connecting with the community here in Lincoln City through dance classes and sports. Just like being on the road, it can be scary when I don’t know my routine yet, or how my books and projects will actually turn out. But I am committed to the journey, committed to the adventure. I will let it continually transform me into the best version of myself.
