Raleigh and Onward to St. Louis~~1844 miles in
After leaving the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains, I headed east towards Raleigh and Chapel Hill to spend some time with Heather and her partner Sarah. My ride out to them was beautiful and spending time with Heather was absolutely what I needed.
While out in Raleigh, Heather and I took a hike out through one of the state parks in the area. One of the topics of conversation, while out and about, was in general my feeling of absence or sadness whenever I experienced a beautiful vista, or a cool trail, or some other really amazing natural phenomenon. The sensation that has been capturing me at many points along this trek is initially pretty powerful and painful. Then after that initial shock to my system, I am able to say, “OK, well that hurt but this is still pretty amazing!” I believe that this initial pain is brought about by the fact that these were experiences that I was used to sharing with Beth. My hope has been that throughout this journey, I can reprogram myself to experience these amazing things on my own and not think first about what is missing but rather just take in the moment.
All of these thoughts came out while we were hiking through the trails in the park, so of course we were only mildly paying attention to the markers that designated the trail that we were supposed to be following. Little did we know that in North Carolina they seem to only have 2 colors to designate trails, blue and orange. Now you would think that if we only see 2 possible colors that would mean that there were only 2 trails that ran through the park, but that would make sense and give you clear directions. There are actually several dozen trails throughout the park but as far as I could see they were either marked orange or blue. So our three mile hike which should have only taken an hour, became a four mile hike that took us all over the park and eventually just following the road back to our car. Lewis and Clark we were not. However, as we walked back on the road laughing at our atrocious navigation skills, Heather did point out the obvious, the next time I was on a hike I could now remember the time that she and I got lost and ambled about aimlessly for a couple of hours. To date I have gone over a couple of other trails on my own, and I gotta admit that each time I have chuckled at how lost we got. 🙂
Jorge 'n Angel tour America 
Jorge,
You are a real spiritual warrior.
The recognition that true happiness and peace exists in each of us, yet can only be experienced by surrendering to and accepting the present moment exactly as it is (without trying to change it in any way) is a crucial step on the path toward experiencing that happiness. This applies equally to amazing vistas and experiences (like those you’re encountering on your trip) as well as life’s “less glamorous” moments. Don’t be so hard on yourself. By acknowledging and accepting the pain you’re describing, you are already “reprogramming” yourself to be able to experience that happiness on your own. As long as you continue to accept the present moment – pain and all – the pain will eventually lose its intensity and will give rise to the beauty of the moment.
Well done young buddha!!
Sheri Alter said this on July 1, 2008 at 11:22 am |