The Enchanted Trail

Earlier, I was feeling a bit of a post-holiday let down. It’s common to feel this after a long weekend of big meals, seeing family and friends. I’ve been eating leftovers and feeling full. My daughter went back to college – it felt like so little time and she was mostly with her friends. All this added up to, I was not feeling particularly inspired, but I knew I needed to fulfill the commitment I made to write daily this month.

I started to approach my writing from the perspective of my old self (Susan 1.0) – one who is disciplined, organized and driven – makes a list and checks the tasks off  as it’s done. There are many benefits to this approach. What happened along the way is that I depleted myself and lost my joy and inspiration. This was a number of years ago and it’s been a journey for me to reclaim a sense of flow in my work – particularly my writing (Susan 2.0).

As my old self started to take the drivers wheel, I consciously said, “No, this doesn’t feel right.” It was a gorgeous day, unusually mild here in Connecticut. Instead I took my Bichon Frise dog, Willy Wonka Benj Shaner-Bradford – we call him Willy for short – on a hike. I intended to go to a state park that is 15 minutes from my house. Less than halfway there I saw a sign I never noticed before. It was a for a Land Trust. I stopped short and took a quick left into a small parking lot, with capacity for maybe five cars. I looked around and, while it didn’t look like much of a formal trail, amidst the leaves, I did see some yellow markings on trees.

So, Willy and I started down the trail. I noticed some of the markings were tiny signs that said, “Enchanted Trail.” I thought, wow, that name just sends me to a different place – I felt lighter. I brought my ipod and was listening to one of my favorite tracks that lifts my spirits. Willy was walking more in sync with me than he usually does. The trail markings went from yellow to orange to blue. I just kept moving, suddenly noticing Willy and I were deep in the woods with no other beings in sight.

It occurred to me that this walk is a metaphor for how I have been moving through my life and my business lately – managing myself to keep the big picture in mind, while I focus on the micro management of the very next best step. I have moments of being scared or uncertain, but I look for signs along the way that I am on the right path. I keep breathing deeply, which calms my mind and body down. I trust the markers of those who have gone before me.

As the sun started to sink and it’s reflection made it hard to see the markers, I had a few minutes where I lost my way. I suddenly felt disoriented…I couldn’t tell if I was really headed back the way I came or headed off in a new direction. I didn’t panic but decided to enjoy the adventure. I walked a little ways and eventually saw some markers I remembered having seen on the way in. Soon, I spotted my car through the brush.

Getting outside; breathing clean, fresh air; having some solitude; appreciating the beauty of the woods – all left me feeling peacefully revitalized. I had a mindset shift that, if I had stayed sitting at my desk in my head, would not have happened.

The invitation is to find the enchantment in the trails we traverse in our daily lives.

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