A story: I was 22 years old and was just about to finish up
my undergrad degree. I was focusing on natural resource management and
rangeland ecology. This was the last summer before graduation and I was looking
for a job relevant to my career field. I looked for jobs with the Forest Service
and with the BLM. I was offered a position doing rangeland inventory. In the
job search process, I had also applied randomly for a job in Durango teaching
arts and crafts at a children’s summer camp. Not relevant what so ever but I
had a longing to be back to Durango; I had lived there a few years prior and
missed it terribly. Sure enough I also got offered the Durango gig. On my plate
came two choices: the responsible one… the career builder or the other one….
The fun one. Which do think I choose? Off to Durango I went. That summer was
revolutionary for me. I found myself surrounded by a community of life-loving
individuals, young and old. We played, we created, we dreamed, we explored, we
loved. Many people from this epic summer are still in my life today.
Friendships that will last a lifetime. At the end of the summer, I packed up my
car with two friends and we explored the southwest for a week. We camped in
magical places and saw sights I never imaged so beautiful. During this week, I
picked up a growler of beer from a small brewery and the growler, long emptied,
rode around in the trunk of my car. We returned to Durango and I lingered even
longer, hesitant to return back to the Front Range and back to college to finish
my final semester. I knew I had to go. I was bitter.
Yet, I returned with a new outlook on life. A window had
opened for me and knew how easily it was to fly through it. Days on the Front
Range were tough. I loved my friends and family but there was this pulling on
my spirit that told me there was more I needed to do. One day, rooting through
my trunk, I found the growler and my heart sank. I missed the adventures that
added this treasure into my life. I taped a piece of paper to the growler and
wrote the letters TBA. Each day I diligently added money to the growler. Some
days it was only coins, other days, particularly the most frustrating days for
me, I added dollars. My funds grew. For what, I did not know. They were for TBA
“the big adventure”…whatever that was. My graduation grew closer and I was
offered a management job at the florist I had worked at for the last few years.
I took the job. I graduated in December and mid-way through the month I
realized I needed to move on. I started looking for jobs…all over. Putting out
applications anywhere I thought I might be interested in going. My mentality: I
had nothing to lose, I could accept only what I wanted and it never hurt to see
what came back. Choices. Options began to spring up. I narrowed it down to
North Carolina. I had never been there before but had heard it was beautiful. I
had two jobs on the table once again. Both teaching environmental education.
One on the coast; a well-established center that paid better than the other.
The other: in the mountains, just starting up, didn’t pay well, had a garden.
The garden sold me. I accepted a position at The Herringridge Environmental Center
in the Appalachian mountains. I nervously stewed over telling my boss at the
flower shop. I worried for weeks. And then finally I told him. He was ecstatic
for me. This was the 180 I was not expecting. I stayed on at the flower shop
through Valentine ’s Day and then finally the time came. I began “the big
adventure.” It started with a week with my cousin backpacking the Grand Canyon.
We hiked into valleys with sparkling waterfalls and watched the sun rise and
set over the red sandstone cliffs. We re-learned who each other were. We had
not spent time like this since we were children.
I moved to North Carolina at the end of the month and
starting teaching little ones about the soil, wildlife, the environment. The
center was based on a theme by the Lorax. The ecology center was a residential program;
on the last night there was a big scavenger hunt for the truffula seed
throughout the surrounding forests. Life-sized lorax costumes adorned our
staff. One night, as the sun was going down, I was running through the woods with
children hot on my pursuit. I ran from them in a giant yellow swammy swan
costume. Four years of college to don a giant chicken suit and evade children
with a fake truffula seed in my hand.
This was my job. I got paid to do this. And so the story goes….
As the years went on I found myself exploring new places –
California, Alaska, Oregon. I’ve taught along the way. Finding a special niche
in experiential education. I’ve met amazing people. Sure, life has not always
been easy to pick up and go; I’d actually say it is quite hard. When you begin
to find strength in a community, it is hard to move away and re-establish
yourself again. But it has been an adventure. I remind myself that I can always
go back to any of these places. It has almost been six years since my big
adventure began. Life is changing, I find myself slowing down a bit. Longing
for land to call my own, for a community to stay in for a while, for a garden
that I work on for more than a single season, for my own animals, to keep bees,
to be closer to my family. I guess this is the next big adventure to come.
Along the way, I’ve kept a list. It has been my to-do list.
My personal list. It keeps me motivated and helps me to realize what is truly
possible. I recently crossed off my master’s degree from this list and it felt
so amazing. If you are reading this and you have that desire inside of you, get
it out. Onto paper. Write it down. In doing so, I think it helps to remind you
that it is possible. You just have to want it. I think too often we tell
ourselves that our dreams are not attainable. They are only dreams. You tell
yourself you don’t have the money, or time, or you are too committed to other
things. These are disguises to hide fears about meeting your dreams. You let
the challenge stop you. The difference between a dream and a reality is that
you have to take that leap. Face any fears that linger there and don’t let them
stand in the way. There is a way around challenges. It is possible to move and
travel on very little. I am living proof of this. Time is what we make it and
commitments are real but if approached correctly, people will understand when
you have to pick up your feet or when you change your mind. It may take
creativity, but it is doable.
