A Day of Renewal

Every minute, every second we are reborn. But yesterday was truly a day of learning and transformation, for the whole group. It was very uncomfortable at times. As is human nature, at times we have conflict. In this case, it was a group conflict. How we handle that conflict has an impact on our lives. For us, we all learned more about each other and ourselves and became even closer. Contrary to what my enthusiastic posts may show, everything that we're up to is not all sunshine and s'mores. It's at times challenging, but that's what pushes us towards growth, depending on the perspective that we have. So in that light, there are really no negative experiences, just chances to learn. We have all been immensely transformed from this experience and will never be the same.

False accusations were directed toward one person, who only responded calmly and gently. We experienced what can happen with the mob mentality, and we also learned about ourselves individually.

Afterwards, we all handled the situation differently. Everyone else went to town or the other camp, seeking isolation to think over things. Freebird and I stayed in the canyon. We decided to venture where I had not gone before, to a worm hole and up right branch canyon. From there we would walk into town to visit LuAnn and check on her.

Looking up the worm hole.

Going back down.

The other day, we overheard a family point out these petroglyphs that we walk by frequently. I've never noticed them. So we stopped to check them out...

 Then we walked up another branch of the creek into Right Branch Canyon. It's just as beautiful as the left branch, though a little different. Here there are less people and warmer water to swim in.

A robin singing, appropriate to a day of rebirth.

Freebird communicating with the ravens.

An infinity sign!

Calm and turbulent parts of the stream, side by side.

A circle of interconnected humans and animals under the sun.

To get to LuAnn's, we decided to take a shortcut. We scrambled up a cliff and found a mountain bike path. From there, a wide panorama of the La Sals, the mesa, and the canyon was visible. We walked down the path toward the sunset, heading for town. What a powerful and moving experience!

As the sunset faded, we made our way to the parking lot and walked over to see LuAnn. When we got to her door, there was no answer. We left a bundle of desert sage, mulberries, and a singing bowl for her, some items to help with healing. As we walked back down the steps, we ran into some guy we never met. "Are you looking for Lu?" What timing! He led us right out to her car in the lot. She greeted us with a huge smile, eyes wide with excitement at seeing us. LuAnn had just returned from Arches National Park. She, too, had been admiring the spectacular sunset. She offered a ride back to the trailhead we could hike back up-canyon. She gave us hugs, and then the two of us ventured back up the canyon, into the night, smelling the beautiful verbenas along the way.

At Cottonwood Cave we enjoyed salad and corn on the cob around the fire, listening to all the sounds of the night and looking at the stars. We reflected on all the lessons of the day, the heaven and the hell that we've all been through as a group. One thing I can say is that we have been greatly changed.

We will never be the same.