Days 7-8: Synchronicity, the Dirty Bird, and a Slug
(I’m keeping this one a bit more brief because I still want to post a Vancouver update before going dark tomorrow. Winnie and I will be heading into the wilds of Canada with little to no cell service for the next four days, camping every nite in the trusty trailer. Send us good vibes!)
Olympic National Park
After my fabulous frolicking in the trails of Rainier, I had one more nite in the hot tub - along with a glorious shower with two shower heads (front and back) - before we hit the road for Port Angeles, Washington outside Olympic National Park.
Along the way we stopped outside Seattle to reconnect with my mom’s best friend growing up. I hadn’t seen “C” since I was probably in college. Having that connection to my mom was nothing short of magical. We spent about an hour sitting in the sun, catching up on each other’s lives. I think my mom was there smiling and laughing with us!
We arrived at Port Angeles to the most adorable AirBNB cottage tucked away in the woods. While we were unloading, I saw the owner outside - Suzann - so went over to say hi.
Suzann reminded me of my Aunt Shirley and I would have guessed she was about 65. But as we talked, so revealed that she was 82! (By the way, correction to the previous post: the adorable woman I met at the Rainier view point was 80, not 82). Yep, another 80-something-year-old out there doing hard manual labor cleaning out her barn like someone half her age!
Long story short, Suzann and I realized that we were both mindfulness meditation (Vipassana) practitioners. She’d actually been on retreat with Jack Kornfield (one of my teachers) about 30 years ago. Her daughter has climbed Rainier twice and sounds like a badass.
Bottom line: there was an immediate connection and we both said that we wanted to stay in touch. This kind of occurrence is what is called a synchronicity.
Not a coincidence. A synchronicity. Synchronicities invite you to sense into the presence of the Divine, Universe, God, Source - whatever you call it - that’s animating everything. Synchronicities ask you to be curious and open. Meeting Suzann indeed was a synchronicity. During my time at the cottage, I got to know her and husband a little more and hear the amazing stories about their adventurous lives. True inspirations and beautiful humans that I feel so blessed to have met.
The next day I had big plans to do some hikes around Olympic National Park. But, my body had other plans. I . . . was . . . freaking exhausted. I also had some weird pains in my chest, which usually mean that I’ve overly fatigued and run down.
So . . . I listened to my body. Took a 2-hour nap. And chilled out all day at the cottage.
The go-getter in me was bummed that I wasn’t out exploring, seeing all that there was to see. But the deeper, more mindful part of me realized that I needed to rest.
After chilling out all day, I met some friends for dinner. But this wasn’t just any dinner or any friends.
No . . . this was my friend, Lisa, and her husband Aaron who . . . and get this . . .
flew their plane in from Amity, Oregon - a 40-minute flight for what would have been a 6-hour drive - just to have dinner with me in Port Angeles.
Now that’s an appearance!
How cool are Lisa and Aaron? Aaron is a pilot who built his own plane. And these two badasses often fly all over - just for fun, just for dinners, just for long weekends.
And the name of their plane? The Dirty Bird. (An inside joke between them).
I mean, do I have cool friends or what? And I’m so grateful that they took the time and money to fly up. That’s pretty special!
The next day I finally had the energy to go explore. No hiking, but some nice driving around Olympic National Park. I have a feeling I’ll be back, so I didn’t feel like I was missing out.
Winnie being a goober from Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park
While I was there, I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous backdrop to record a meditation on anxiety. A friend of mine had emailed me letting me know that her young daughter was experiencing some anxiety and that one of the other meditations I’d done had helped a bit.
Anxiety is all too familiar for me - as I’m sure it is for a lot of you too.
Hear this: there is nothing wrong with you for experiencing anxiety.
You are not alone if you experience anxiety.
You are not your anxiety.
And you can learn to change your relationship to your anxiety.
So please enjoy the short talk and meditation below to help navigate your experience of anxiety.
Back at the cottage after exploring Olympic, I was walking Winnie down the country road and saw a gigantic slug.
Now, you may be grossed out by slugs, but I think they’re pretty cute and cool. Plus, they are powerful messengers to slow down. I believe in the spiritual messages that animals hold, and seeing this slug was a powerful reminder for me.
Rest. Slow down. Be intentional. Take my time. Be observant. Be curious.
It’s ok to be a slug . . . slowly moving through the world, finely tuned-into your surroundings, not giving a shit how fast the rest of the world is moving.
So that was Olympic . . . synchronistic, graced by the Dirty Bird, and connecting with my inner slug. Pretty mellow, but there’s still some Trail Mix to digest:
Lessons learned: It can be easy when you’re on vacation or even going through your normal day, to succumb to the pull of go-go-go. The feeling that you have to leave no stone unturned. See it all. Do it all. There’s a reluctance to embrace our inner slug. Ask yourself why? What are the stories you have around slowing down? What do you think it says about you if slow down?
Also, if we want to take this slug analogy a little deeper: slugs have both male and female anatomy. What can we learn from that? Well, slugs can mate with themselves . . . and while I don’t have any plans to mate with myself any time soon . . . I think that this symbolized the power of embracing all of our male and female energy. This has nothing to do with being a gendered “man” or “woman.” We all have male and female energy. Learning to embrace all parts of us - all of our energy along that spectrum of male and female energy - is what leads us to our whole and complete power of being Human. The more we can acknowledge and embrace all the ways in which our energies show up, the closer we come to our full Human potential. (I just dropped a big Truth Bomb on you here . . . trust me, we’ll be exploring this more later).
Oh, and I found my 9th or 10th 4-leaf clover at the cottage. Just another reminder that we just have to look to find the potential . . . to make our own “luck.”
What I’m listening to:
Van Morrison - and particularly Into the Mystic. (Thanks to my SCORE mentor for the suggestion)
Caamp: You can’t go wrong with any of Caamp’s songs
Put a Little Love in Your Heart - John Tibbs
Let it Slide - Marco Benevento
Far Away - Infinity Song
Crossroads - Tracy Chapman
Sapling - Foy Vance, Bag’n’Bone Man
I’ve loved hearing from all of you, so please keep sending your messages. I’ll respond as soon as I can!
Talk and guided meditation for anxiety from Olympic National Park