ON A GOOD ADVENTURE,

it is easy to live in the beauty, simplicity, and excitement of the moment. Awe resonates all the way down in your toes. Life becomes only about that moment.

ALL IS PERFECT.

 BUT, SOMETIMES, THE MAP GETS LOST

Old pain resurfaces, automatic habits and reactions crop up, fire rages. The mind spins in anxiety on ruminations of the past or future; or it stops completely, covered by the cold, wet blanket of depression.

Core thoughts, learned from traumatic experiences, silently relay outdated instructions on how to be a human in this messy world, and those instructions become our map

AND THEN WE GET LOST,

We forget the sunrise, how the wind whispers over the ocean, or how the sky tastes on the mountain. Or how Christmas lights sparkle more when you squint at them or how restful a cat can sleep.

AND CANNOT FIND OUR WAY HOME AGAIN.

From my 20 years of experience in the mental health field, I have learned that when the adventure of life gets hard, we lose sight of our home in the present. Experiences of trauma creep in to offer protection and help. But, they do not help and we stray further and further away from the love and awe awaiting our discovery.