River Lessons

           As gals headed towards the gulf, we are constantly doing. We are paddling; we are layering ourselves in sweaters, fleeces, scarves, and hats; we are packing our belongings into two canoes; we are cookin up noodles with our favorite pesto sauce; we are cuddled like 4 peas in a pod that looks remarkably like a MSR Elixir 4; and we are journaling just after sunset with heavy eyelids and rosy, wind-burned cheeks. We constantly do . . . but in the past 18 days these tasks have become more routine. They are engrained in our minds, hearts, and even our dreams after we've fallen asleep. Lately, we are beginning to let ourselves "just be" amidst these routines. 

          I think letting ourselves be is one of the toughest things to do in our lives that exist outside of this expedition. Honestly, it's one of the river's gifts to us. It looks like tucking my matted hair under my hat and knowing I'll keep it that way for a while. Rolling into the tent at 7:30pm and letting myself sleep because I'm tired and the ground feels like a bed of clouds. Picking up my day-dream right where I left it yesterday. Letting 30 river miles pass by in the blink of an eye because the river doesn't know time, and as we get to know the mighty Mississippi better, neither do we. 

         The longer we get to live like this, the easier it is to see ourselves, our lives, and the world with the perspective that "just being" allows for. In the past week, I've admired a river's parallels to the human brain. As a river flows, the current changes. Speeding up and later slowing down, influenced by tributaries- the confluence of other rivers feeding messages of inspiration to one another. Our brains are shaped by what we expose them to, by what feeds into them. They send messages through well-traveled synapses. These grooves are deep and comfortable. In life away from the river it is easy to find yourself in the same old path you always travel, a place we know is safe but maybe tired. These are the pathways of our brain that are sparse in freshness, freedom, and vulnerability. The funny thing is that, like a river, your brain is 100% capable of sending new messages, picking up new currents, and forming new pathways or grooves. 

         The river inspires an openness in us. An openness to changing what we see as our limits. An openness to learning from the Mississippi itself and all the teachers we meet along the way. And finally, an openness within ourselves to lean into what BEING on this journey means. 

~Posted by G.Werner at Lake Winnieshiek