So, as some of you may know, in the new year I happened into some bad news and I was really starting to feel stuck in my life. Part of this is why I originally started dreading; I realized that at some point we're all going to be gone and to experience the things in life that we want to when we can. I had always wanted dreads and I realized, why hadn't I? So I did. Then I asked myself the question: if you had a year to live, what would you be doing?
My dream life is living in the mountains being completely self-sufficient, reading, writing, and being outdoors. I'm not entirely in a place in my life where I can make this happen yet, and I would like to get my degree as well, so I'm not yet trying to make my dream life a reality but this spring I had a temporary view of what it could be like: at least a little.
On April 24th I got a call at 10 p.m while sitting in the service truck of my ex-fiance. Needless to say, I was getting caught up in my old life again, the one that left me feeling restless and trapped. The call? A foreman from a treeplanting company asking if I wanted to be part of his crew, starting in a week, across the province. I said yes.
So for the last two months I have been living in the forest with a group of 30 other like-minded people between the ages of 19 and 31. We worked together, ate together, partied together, cried together. We learned more about ourselves, our strengths and limitations, and those of others.
I decided early in my packing that it would be a technology free experience for me, so I don't have any pictures of when I was out there. But it was amazing. I saw wildlife daily, the most beautiful sun rises and sun sets, vast mountain ranges, dazzling lightning storms, more stars than are countable, and the full moon reflected on a river as a mist floated through the meadow. I grew accustomed to hugging. To talking to strangers. To sharing myself in a way I had always been afraid. I was me, and I felt home. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I will go back and do it again and again.
Through it all, my dreads got quite a bit of life. There were far too many times that I went two/three weeks before thinking about my hair. As a result they dreaded up pretty good, but it was a bit of a challenge to separate some of it when I got back. Luckily I had a 21hr bus ride and only 4 books to occupy my time on the ride back!
When I got back I went and did a fun run with my brother and sister in law. It was Color me Rad and was raising money for the children's hospital in the city which my brother lives and my nephew uses.
And then I finally got back home and sat on the couch with my roommate and played side by side Skyrim, just like we always do!
My dream life is living in the mountains being completely self-sufficient, reading, writing, and being outdoors. I'm not entirely in a place in my life where I can make this happen yet, and I would like to get my degree as well, so I'm not yet trying to make my dream life a reality but this spring I had a temporary view of what it could be like: at least a little.
On April 24th I got a call at 10 p.m while sitting in the service truck of my ex-fiance. Needless to say, I was getting caught up in my old life again, the one that left me feeling restless and trapped. The call? A foreman from a treeplanting company asking if I wanted to be part of his crew, starting in a week, across the province. I said yes.
So for the last two months I have been living in the forest with a group of 30 other like-minded people between the ages of 19 and 31. We worked together, ate together, partied together, cried together. We learned more about ourselves, our strengths and limitations, and those of others.
I decided early in my packing that it would be a technology free experience for me, so I don't have any pictures of when I was out there. But it was amazing. I saw wildlife daily, the most beautiful sun rises and sun sets, vast mountain ranges, dazzling lightning storms, more stars than are countable, and the full moon reflected on a river as a mist floated through the meadow. I grew accustomed to hugging. To talking to strangers. To sharing myself in a way I had always been afraid. I was me, and I felt home. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I will go back and do it again and again.
Through it all, my dreads got quite a bit of life. There were far too many times that I went two/three weeks before thinking about my hair. As a result they dreaded up pretty good, but it was a bit of a challenge to separate some of it when I got back. Luckily I had a 21hr bus ride and only 4 books to occupy my time on the ride back!
When I got back I went and did a fun run with my brother and sister in law. It was Color me Rad and was raising money for the children's hospital in the city which my brother lives and my nephew uses.
And then I finally got back home and sat on the couch with my roommate and played side by side Skyrim, just like we always do!
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I hope this gave you time to come to terms with whatever bad news 2013 hit you with x