A note on all the hiking...

I am not a naturally outdoorsy person. Most people who know me would define me as a city/indoorsy person, which I think is true for the most part. I don't like getting dirty and being outside usually means some sort of elemental assault on my allergy-riddled system. Plus, I spook very easily and tend to feel frightened and vulnerable when in unfamiliar natural settings. In other words, I am seldom fully at ease.

However, despite this, I am very drawn to lush, green, overgrown, wild landscapes. Strangely, being in unspoilt nature makes me feel closer to the past than most historic buildings or sites I've been to. I guess I just love knowing that more or less my eyes are seeing things the way they've been for centuries. No doubt one hundred years ago, people felt the same awe I do when I watch a brook flow through a heavily-wooded ravine or when I see the sunlight filter through a dense canopy of leaves. I feel strongly connected to everything in these rare moments and that far outweighs any fear or discomfort.

Three years ago, I had a very emotional and cathartic session with a psychic healer (my first and so far, only time). While so many things came up for me, one thing she mentioned stands out right now. She said that I needed to dig my feet into the earth, to really be a part of it, in order to combat my natural tendency to be ungrounded and aloof. Too often, I lose myself in obsessive thinking and daydreaming, which really wreaks havoc on my reality. But, when I am on a hiking adventure (or any exploratory adventure, for that matter), I am very much out of my head and into the world.