Finding Myself In The Dirt

“Creating a connection with the wildness outside is way of keeping the wildness within alive.”

The silhouette of Mount Sopris towered over us on a crisp summer morning at dawn. With backpacks strapped snuggly to our hips, Raleigh & I followed the trail into the trees. In between steps, I could hear my heartbeat elevating as the trail snaked its way through forests, into a meadow, and past a lake.

By the time we reached tree-line, the sun had made its journey across the sky in chorus with ours. My body felt exhausted but empowered, having carried me to this peak nearly 13,000 feet up. We settled into our sleeping bags on a section of flat ground to watch the stars illuminate. A bear roared from somewhere below. Here, with the dirt beneath me, in the creases on my hands, coating my legs and arms, sprinkled in my hair, I felt a re-connection to my inner-self. She who so often lures me to summits, to canyons floors, to oceans and rivers. In places like these, I can shed my coat of armor. I can place my to-do lists and fears of inadequacy aside. I can attune to my most primal state of being. Dirt is the medicine, and it was there on the mountainside that I welcomed that soul food ceremoniously.

-Mara

(May 2020)