Adventure
Yosemite National Park from Glacier Point overlook
I’ve been spending a lot of time journaling lately. This is a practice I have tried time and time again to make a habit of and I’ve never been successful at it. Honestly, my hand gets tired or sometimes I don’t feel like sitting in my feelings. Often I feel like I don’t have much to say, or the effort it takes to write it out isn’t worth it.
All of that changed recently when I made a new discovery. Writing with a fountain pen is SO much more pleasurable. Writing page after page doesn’t feel like a chore anymore. In fact, I look forward to putting pen to paper and have found myself journaling multiple times throughout the day. Now, this also could have something to do with the amount of things going on in my life that I need to process. It also could have to do with the digital detox I am currently undergoing (more of than in a later post) and I have nothing better to do than pull out my journal. But truly, writing with a fountain pen has increased the enjoyment I get out of journaling significantly.
Right now I am working through a list of reflection questions for the past year. Honestly, I’ve never really thought too much about reflecting like this during the change over to a new year, but I now understand why people do it. It has been nice to look back on some of the highlights (and lowlights) of this year and reflect on how I have changed as a person and what was fulfilling over the past year. It has me thinking about things to incorporate into next year to lean into what brought me joy this past year.
A theme that shone through was the adventures I had. We traveled to Maui and I traveled to Yosemite National Park this year. Both experiences were highlights for me and they both had a profound effect on me in different ways.
Maui was a grand adventure for Matt and me. We rediscovered how much we both love the beach and the ocean. We grew up in the same town on the coast of North Carolina and lived there together during the first ten years of our relationship. We have since moved away from the coast and originally thought we were totally okay with that. We learned on our trip to Maui that we do love being near the ocean and hope to one day return to the coast. Likely not the town we grew up in, but somewhere along any coast would be fine by us. The trip to Maui was also a reminder of our love for adventure and seeing new places. It inspired us to try to find more ways to spend time outside and prioritize travel in the future.
Yosemite was a solo trip for me (without Matt) to visit a dear friend. She invited me to tag along on a backpacking trip she had planned with her friend. It was planned as a three-night trip and I made it one night in the backcountry. I learned during that time that balancing challenging myself and prioritizing my enjoyment of a place is important. Ultimately, I decided that this trip to Yosemite was meant to be fun for me (it was my first time there) and I would rather miss challenging myself by continuing in the backcountry and enjoy the rest of the trip solo. So, I left my friends in the backcountry and headed back to my friend’s house to enjoy Yosemite on my own for a few days. Best. Decision. Ever. I was able to explore on my own time and I ended up seeing a bucket list item, El Capitan. I hiked to the base of the massive rock and touched it. I watched the climbers, who looked like ants from the ground, challenge their bodies and minds. I saw giant Sequoia trees, hiked past two waterfalls, and walked the Valley loop. Experiencing a tourist destination alone was incredible. I recommend it to anyone. I was forced to lean into my own experience rather than wondering how someone else was feeling. I had to figure things out on my own and was able to decide what I wanted to do every step of the way. Being surrounded by families, couples, and tour groups while experiencing it all alone was profound. I loved every moment of it, but also can’t wait to go back with Matt and share this special place. If I haven’t said it before, I worked for the National Park Service for ten years and Yosemite is the first park site I have been to that really made me understand why these places are protected. The vast wilderness that is protected in that park is magnificent and breathtaking.
As I am wrapping this post up, a song that I played on repeat while I was in Yosemite is “Ends of the Earth” by Lord Huron just came on Spotify. Go give it a listen. I hope it will spark a sense of adventure for you too.
While reflecting on my year in 2023, that is a consistent theme. Adventure. I have a tattoo on my back with a quote from the movie, Hook. It says “To live will be an awfully big adventure” and I couldn’t agree more.
