After yesterday’s post on Taking the Plunge, I went back and read my old posts.
Not just some of them, but all of them.
Some brought back memories, some made me smile, some made me cry, while a few made me laugh out loud. It made me remember why I started this blog. While I am certainly happy to share my random thoughts and experiences with others, it serves as a wonderful journal of memories for myself. Especially now that I am forgetting things!!!
Then I started looking at the dates. I realized my last post, before yesterday’s, was over a year ago, and I was ashamed that I haven’t kept up with my writing. I realized that I was taking the easy approach of simply doing occasional Facebook posts, and not really capturing more than moments, but my thoughts, ideas and stories I’ve experienced.
Happily, one of the reasons I have not kept up with my writing is that we have been getting out in nature more. We purchased a new house in Lansdowne, Virginia in June 2014, and immediately bought a set of kayaks.
Our house sits about a mile from a put-in at Kephart Bridge Landing on Goose Creek, which drains into the Potomac River. We have managed to get out onto the water many a weekend since, and it has been wonderful.
When we aren’t on the river, we hike along the walking trails in Lansdowne or along the Goose Creek Canal, or at Red Rock Wilderness Overlook a few miles up the road, or Ball’s Bluff Battlefield a few miles beyond that. We even managed to do a day hike along the “roller coaster” section of the AT to Bear’s Den, which I threatened to hike in The Journey Begins with a Single Step. We are simply surrounded by nature, and we have finally been able to get out and enjoy it, after too long of sitting in front of the mind-numbing TV.
Over the past year, we even managed to travel further afield.
We visited my folks in Colorado for my sister’s beautiful wedding, squeezing in a day trip to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, and a hike around Boulder, Colorado. We traveled to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico and tried our hand at paddle boarding in the ocean. We traveled to Seattle, Washington, visiting Snoqualmie Falls and hiking Tiger Mountain.
It has been a great year for getting out and about, but I have still felt like something’s been missing.
Over an evening conversation several months ago with my wise cousin, Dan, I was sharing this with him. This sense that something is missing in my otherwise very full life.
He told me that he was feeling the same way, and that his music, which serves as his wonderfully creative outlet, helped him get out of a rut and help the “Sun to Rise.”.
He encouraged me to find my creative outlet…writing for example.
So, six months later, I am taking up my pen (or at least my keyboard) to jot down my thoughts, and perhaps turn a few old journal writings from pen to pixels. Hopefully, I’ll be able to manage to post a little more frequently than once a year.
Hey, whadyaknow? I’ve already doubled last year’s postings!
Earthwise Journal 