In the everyday city life, it is easy to run to a car and weather the storm. Literally. Too tired and impatient to find parking at the mall? No problem, pay the valet. Too drunk to drive back from the bar? The cab is a phone call away. Don’t feel like walking three blocks to the market? That’s fine, take the metro.

And in a blink, today’s means of transportation solve our problems if only for a few minutes.

But those same doubting questions also engulf my brain when I find myself walking yet another trail in a corner of the world— tired, cold, wet, and muddy.

That was the case as we silently walked the trail to Shi Shi Beach along the Washington Coast. It was a rainy February weekend.

It’ll be muddy, they said. Be sure to wear shoes you don’t mind getting dirty, they said.

“It’s just mud”, thought my Tough Mudder self. “And I’m used to walking—heck, running— in mud!”

The trail was so much muddier than both my boyfriend and I anticipated. We had just come from breathing in the views of Cape Flattery. It was late in the afternoon, and our bodies were now becoming cold and tired and running on only four hours of sleep.

But fresh air! The feeling that overtakes you when you find stillness among trees…

We kept walking and walking, and at times the mud swallowed our entire feet. In came the doubting questions.

But there was no one to call. No car, no cab, no metro. Back to basics. Even whining would be useless. I was humbly reminded that our only reliable form of transportation were our own two legs. It did not matter whether we kept walking forward or we turned back around because it was our legs that would have to carry us anyway. We had to put in the work.

So when we finally arrived to the end of the main trail, I was ready to cry when I realized a very steep area stood between the beach and us. We couldn’t even see the beach from where we stood. No way we would make it down that steep hill with such muddy soil.

Two different ropes lined the hill to the bottom. Had our bodies not been so tired, those ropes would have been so much fun, no doubt!

We looked at each other. Shook our heads. Silence.

One last look down the hill was enough to make me realize that I couldn’t turn back around. Not now. So we shook off any doubt that crippled our brain, gathered our last bit of energy, and grabbed onto those ropes as we trekked down the hill.

We quickly realized the muddy, steep hill looked a lot more daunting than it really was.

And in no time…THIS! 

Bliss.

Any feeling of tiredness and defeat was instantly washed away by the ocean waves.

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God, I love our Mother. One minute She can tear me apart, and the next minute She can erase every heavy feeling I have. And She always reminds me why I seek a closer relationship to Her…

I do it because that soothing ocean and fresh mountain air is like nothing I’ll ever breathe. I do it because it brings me back to my natural human state. I do it because I am reminded that we were once wild.

…and still are.

Perhaps that is the reason why I find myself more alive and reenergized even when I am enveloped by Her unpredictable elements. As long as Air moves us, Fire transforms us, Water shapes us, Earth heals us — we are still wild.

How do you connect with Earth?

Love and Light,

Denise

 Until next time, Beautiful Ones! <3

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