This is our last full day of nearly six weeks of living in this beautiful desert. The weather was like nothing we’ve ever seen. Even many of the locals had never experienced this much snow and rain. In the entire six weeks we’ve only had around ten days of weather decent enough to hike in.
When things don't go our way it’s sometimes easy to forget just how lucky we are to be able to do this at all. Everything in life is a matter of perspective. Yes, the weather wasn’t ideal but we’ve gotten to see a rare thing that few have, the high desert blanketed with over a foot of snow. I’ve also gotten quite a bit of writing done.
To close this year's trip we found a lesser-known hike called Yavapai Vista Trail. This is an easy hike with an elevation of about 82ft and one of the more beautiful trails we've tried.
According to a plaque at the trailhead, there was an ancient human settlement on this site a little over a thousand years ago. I can see why. They would have commanded a view of the entire canyon and had access to everything they would have needed to survive.
If you ever make it here and are pressed for time, I would definitely add Yavapai Vista Trail to your must-do list.
I took one last soak in the hot tub before leaving. Although it's not in the picture above, a curious hummingbird got into the habit of flying about fifteen feet in front of me, hovering, flying away then coming back again. This got to be our daily routine, when weather permitted. One of the neighbors must of had a hummingbird feeder near their house, attracting them to the area. That was another great memory of the trip. I'm going to miss that little guy.
Making Room...
After my morning meditation today, I started thinking about how our plans going awry sometimes in life is a great gift.
The Universe has a way of communicating to us through synchronicity, or the process of external events coming together to create deep meaning. Since spontaneity is the playground of synchronicity, when we over plan or have an overwhelming desire to control every aspect of our lives this has a way of killing spontaneity and therefore blocking synchronicity.
We might feel "safe in our bubbles" but nothing much exciting happens and we feel generally unconnected and unfulfilled. I can remember feeling like this a lot before I started taking more chances and opening myself up to more possibilities.
We tend to think planning to excess will somehow make us feel less anxiety or fear. In actuality, it severs our line of communication with the Universe and can make the fear and anxiety worse.
Synchronicity is the space in which our greatest lessons can be found. A lot of young children reside in this state nearly all of the time but us adults tend to get amnesia. Of course, as with anything, striking a balance between the two extremes is important. We must make room for synchronicity's playground.
Sometime soon I'll expand on this idea a little and make an entire blog post about it. For now we begin our journey back to the still-frozen North. See you next year, Sedona!
Thanks for reading.
All for now. Trust your instincts, invest in you, live boldly, and take chances.
~Eric Vance Walton~
(Photos and video are original.)
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