Oh, the places we can go ....
“Oh, the places you can go.” Dr. Seuss
My husband Rich and I recently returned from a trip that had quite the lead-up…a three-year wait and a two-time rescheduled trip to Iceland due to the Pandemic.
It was well worth the wait.
I felt as if we had been dropped down on the moon! We took 13 days to drive the Ring Road around Iceland, experiencing what so many travel bloggers, books, and friends had told us — weather changing by the moment - 40+ mile an hour winds, snow squalls causing whiteouts turning to sleet, then rain, fog and eventually 50-degree weather and sun - all in one day!
We stopped to hike mountains, volcanos, glaciers, and cliffs, and wander black beaches. We watched and even stepped under so many amazing waterfalls I can’t even count them. Each site offered us an opportunity to marvel in awe at the power of water — be it drenching us in mist as the water fell before us at 95,000 gallons per second, geothermal pools bubbling and steaming from the heat of the earth’s core, or the beauty and fragility of ancient glaciers formed hundreds of years ago.
I felt like a true explorer as we climbed lava rock-encrusted trails to summits high above to be rewarded by vistas of indescribable beauty. I recall sitting on a lava rock, resting after a tough climb, mesmerized at distant rain clouds partially obstructing a no longer active but still intimidating volcano. A rough black lava-strewn field stretching out for miles somehow looked peaceful and inviting as I noticed how soft green moss slowly blanketed the jagged rocks.
We hiked many wet and damp trails along dramatic coastlines while the Arctic Ocean crashed below, peering at a pod of whales and listening to a wide variety of seabirds call to unseen mates.
After years of no travel, I admit I was out of practice - but oh, how quickly those atrophied exploration muscles came back online.
With curiosity guiding us, we learned about Icelandic history, culture, and food- even partaking in delicacies, I’d never thought I would attempt - eating lovingly raised and prepared Icelandic horses! (I know, to all my horse and animal lovers out there, I feel ya. But when in Rome …. ; )
It reminded me of how significant exploration is to living a full and authentic life.
To truly live, I believe we must bring our explorer online. To be alive, we must, from time to time, purposely enter the “unknown” and be vulnerable and open to learning and experiencing something new. Traveling paths we’ve not walked allows us to test who we are. In these new places, taking new behaviors, thoughts, hopes and dreams out for a test drive is easier. Yes, it’s exhilarating and frightening. Isn’t that what it feels like to be truly alive?
“One’s destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things.” Henry Miller
As a coach, I guide my clients as they question and seek new ways of living. Together we find a map that leads them toward who they really are. Like our trip to Iceland, we must all look at our lives through new eyes and challenge ourselves to seek new ways of being, question what we “know” to be true, and risk stepping outside our comfort zone to explore new terrain that may just lead us to unexpected delights.
On our trip, I faced a fear I have of heights.
A kind and trusted glacier guide gave me quite the opportunity to do so when I
confessed my fear of heights as we were hiking a glacier. After a moment of silence, she turned to me and asked, “Do you want to work on that?” A half-hour later, I found myself tethered to a rope securely fastened to a stake she had expertly drilled into the ice. She instructed me to slowly walk backward toward an edge in the ice, keeping my eyes forward on hers as she reassured me that my harness was securely attached and I would not fall. Eventually, I took a deep breath and leaned over the crevasse in the ice that I couldn’t see the bottom of!
My heart pounding and my face beaming, I truly felt alive.
What exploration awaits you? How can you step outside your “norm, seeking new challenges amidst your everyday landscape? Everything counts, my friends, from taking a right where you normally take a left on your well-worn trip to work or the grocery store — to trying a new hike, a different coffee shop, and maybe even talking to someone you normally wouldn’t.
“The Universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself. Everything that you want is already there.” Rumi
Or maybe your exploration is more of the inner variety. Challenging yourself to see — and possibly even accept — something about yourself that others see in you. You know what I mean. Those compliments and observations we dismiss and deny. Perhaps the challenge is to truly listen and believe a truth someone who loves you shares with you as they look into your eyes and tell you what they see. That you are beautiful, amazing, smart, talented ….. (fill in the blank here!)
I urged you to do one thing today that may take you to a new place in honor of exploration! What can you do to get out of your comfort zone, venture into the unknown, sample something new, and discover something you just may love?
I’d love to hear about your explorations!