Last week I had quite an adventure with a very good friend of mine. Last year, we vowed to shake things up and do crazy things together instead of just sitting around and drinking wine whenever we got together. We wanted to challenge ourselves, so we decided to embrace activities that scared us. That led to a lot of cold plunges in the ocean last winter and continued throughout the year.
For my birthday in December, my friend took me to a place about an hour from Vancouver. We geared up for a three-part zip line course, complete with tightropes and log swings. It was the most terrifying thing I've done in a long time.
Today, my arms are still sore, but the experience was worth it. I initially felt immense fear, even having nightmares about karabiners and falling from trees. As a Capricorn, I like to be on solid ground. But my intuition told me to push my edges, do things that scare me, and get out of my comfort zone.
The first obstacle was a 30-foot tightrope. My initial reaction was, "I can't." But I remembered my desire to push my limits. I tried three times before I managed to cross it, shaking and with a dry mouth. I was proud of myself for persevering.
Then came round two, with obstacles even higher and a school bus of ten-year-olds eager to pass us. Their energy pushed us to keep moving, which was a gift, I didn't have the luxury of time to overthink things and there was NO way I was going to let a bunch of 6th graders see me sweat. Despite the stress, I crossed a spinning tightrope covered in foam fishing buoys, rope walls and impossible seeming tightropes. It was almost impossible, but I did it.
By the end of round 2, I was practically motoring through the course. But as I climbed to the start at the top of the 3rd and final course, I suddenly felt shaky and extremely thirsty, a sign from my body that something was wrong. Despite self-imposed pressure, I knew I had to listen to my body. So I stopped, apologized to my friend and climbed back down, where I cheered her on from the ground.
This adventure day reinforced so many important things for me: the importance of pushing past our comfort zones sometimes, the gift of not overthinking and how utterly important it is to cultivate skills to be able to distinguish between fear and true wisdom. At the beginning, fear said, "I can't do this," but wisdom knew I could. Later, true wisdom told me to stop, and I honoured that. My creative practice has helped me learn this difference, playing with paints and exploring the edges of what is a gut voice vs a fear voice and I was able to bring that skill and awareness into the real world.
June is SAND DOLLAR month
I found more than a dozen, sun-bleached baby sand dollar shells on the beach this week while I was visiting my mom on beautiful Denman Island, BC. I saved one of them to make into a new necklace to add to my Sand Dollar Jewelry Collection for you (watch this space!) but the others I put back, I had this thought a couple weeks ago about seashells and how it is becoming rarer and rarer to find them on the beaches and wondering whether so many humans taking them as prizes may be contributing to their declining numbers, and out of an abundance of caution I decided to be much more mindful about what I remove from the beach.
NEW PEBBLEBELLIES JUST DROPPED! (here)
AMAZING NEW PODCAST GUEST COMING UP
Next Friday, I have an incredible guest on The Creative Genius Podcast, Anna Goldfarb, the friendship correspondent for the New York Times. She's written a book called "Modern Friendship" that has profoundly impacted my life. Be sure to tune in for that one! It is perhaps one of the most important episodes I have recorded to date.
Thank you for being part of this community. I am so glad you are here.
I hope your summer is off to a great start. Talk to you soon!
Love, Kate
