I’m sitting in a coffee shop in downtown Poulsbo, twirling my hair, sipping on easily the best caramel macchiato I have ever had. Not surprising considering my location. I am completely baffled at the fact that this is my last day on the west coast. The time has so quietly slipped by. I swear yesterday I was getting off of an airplane, holding one heavy damn duffel bag and a backpack thinking to myself: well, here it goes. I landed in a city that I had never been to in my entire life, and sat on a bench waiting to see an old white acura pull around the curb. I’ve been to more than ten cities in a short six weeks, including a trip to Canada, and all of it now seems like a memory, or something of the sort. I’m not sure that calculating the change and growth that I have experienced would be possible. I have learned more about myself, people, and this earth in six weeks than I have in my whole life.
I’ve dipped my toes in the frigid Pacific Ocean, and wondered at how I could be on a completely different coast from my family and friends. I have learned that comfort comes with work. I have learned, exceedingly well, that chopping wood is a hell of a lot harder than it looks, and that starting a fire is both and art, and incredibly frustrating. I don’t know how many nights I have fallen asleep to the sound of banjo music and my brother’s raspy voice, muffled by thin steel walls of an abandoned school bus; the plucking sound of the strings sounding much like a lullaby, or something that you hear in a dream-- It starts out clear and crisp and then morphs into a drone, as if you are underwater.
I have gotten lost in strange places learning that you cannot always trust strangers, and also having to depend on the kindness of the same. I have had to pack all that I have up and move on a moment’s notice and have been shown divine love of a family willing to take me in with no questions asked. I have pondered with total wonder, upon the beauty of new life by peering out the window of a ferry and seeing a small pod of baby Orca whales’ surface for air in icy blue waters with the Cascade Mountains shadowing the horizon line.
I have learned that this country first belonged to a Native People and I have seen and experienced the richness of a culture that formed the foundation of my own. I have learned that happiness is river dancing barefooted in an Irish Bar in British Colombia with senior citizens. I have learned that peace comes from within, and that the power of the mind is so vastly underestimated. I have learned that solitude is sacred and is a gift not to be taken for granted. I know now, more than ever that wherever you are, is where you are. So be there.
I’ve dipped my toes in the frigid Pacific Ocean, and wondered at how I could be on a completely different coast from my family and friends. I have learned that comfort comes with work. I have learned, exceedingly well, that chopping wood is a hell of a lot harder than it looks, and that starting a fire is both and art, and incredibly frustrating. I don’t know how many nights I have fallen asleep to the sound of banjo music and my brother’s raspy voice, muffled by thin steel walls of an abandoned school bus; the plucking sound of the strings sounding much like a lullaby, or something that you hear in a dream-- It starts out clear and crisp and then morphs into a drone, as if you are underwater.
I have gotten lost in strange places learning that you cannot always trust strangers, and also having to depend on the kindness of the same. I have had to pack all that I have up and move on a moment’s notice and have been shown divine love of a family willing to take me in with no questions asked. I have pondered with total wonder, upon the beauty of new life by peering out the window of a ferry and seeing a small pod of baby Orca whales’ surface for air in icy blue waters with the Cascade Mountains shadowing the horizon line.
I have learned that this country first belonged to a Native People and I have seen and experienced the richness of a culture that formed the foundation of my own. I have learned that happiness is river dancing barefooted in an Irish Bar in British Colombia with senior citizens. I have learned that peace comes from within, and that the power of the mind is so vastly underestimated. I have learned that solitude is sacred and is a gift not to be taken for granted. I know now, more than ever that wherever you are, is where you are. So be there.
