What Writing A Book Taught Me About Getting Stuck In A Canyon
Two weeks ago Ben and I went on a 5-day backpacking trip. You know the drill: load everything into a 35 pound backpack, walk for miles into the back-country, camp, repeat the next day.
I realize that for some (a lot?) of you, that sounds like a mini version of hell. For me, it’s peace, tranquility, freedom. There’s that moment when my body says, “Ahhhh” to the weight of the pack. (By now, that’s usually the second I put it on!) And that second moment where my legs feel like they’re unattached, swinging loose from my hips, like walking is the natural state of being.
Not following me? Think of that moment where you’re doing something you love and suddenly every fiber in your being says, “Yes! I LOVE this! Yes!”
Now about this trip…
It was unlike anything we’d ever done before. It wasn’t a backpacking trip, but a canyoneering trip. I hate giving a rote definition but here’s a great explanation:
Canyoning (known as canyoneering in the U.S.) is traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling (rappelling), and swimming.
And this trip had everything except rope-work.
But here’s what I realized, several times, actually.
I was DONE. I’d had it, I wanted out, this wasn’t fun.
That time when we were just getting to Wet Beaver Creek, through Waldroup Canyon. It was brutally hot; the rocks were huge, sharp, and hot; I was tired, the puddles to wet my hat weren’t close enough together and DAMNIT! there was yet ANOTHER scramble , this one down a side gulch using a dead Ponderosa pine tree as an over-head scramble hold.
But here’s the thing… I was halfway to Wet Beaver Creek. And the only thing I could do was go on.
What do you do when you can't stop halfway? Click To TweetI didn’t have the luxury of being done. I couldn’t climb back out. I couldn’t stay there. If I wanted to refill my water bottle, I’d have to get to the creek. The three liters I’d brought with me were gone.
I couldn’t stay halfway.
As someone who considers herself a pretty creative person, it was actually really difficult to start “flexing” my creativity muscle. I can’t imagine how overwhelming and difficult it must be to try to start being creative. One of the best exercises that I did when I first started was to find out what type of creativity I wanted to become involved in. There’s photography, drawing, sketching, painting, scrapbooking, and even journaling. I was fortunate enough to find a creative outlet that fit my organizational nature. I love to plan things and make lists about everything. I found the Planner Community by accident and have just started decorating my planner and making embellished lists that I can save for years to come.
Have you ever felt like that? You are trying to be creative and innovative and unique and you see what everyone else is doing. Then you try to force yourself to be even more creative and you end up spinning around in circles and possibly wrecking that which you have already created? I know a little bit about that feeling. It happens to me from time to time.