Our trips into the BWs were all great adventures. Some involved learning new skills, some were more physically taxing, some the weather played tricks on us, and some the critters that we maybe didn’t want to meet snuck up on us when we least expected it. Through all of this we had a great time. The first BWCA adventure was plagued with almost constant rain and cool temperatures. This was our first such adventure; neither of us were avid campers, in fact I had only been camping about 3 times (one was as a girls scout when I was a child) before we set out.
Anyway, this first year because of the temperature and the wet weather it was very important that we kept a fire burning. We both had lit and build bonfires but when you have to tromp through the woods looking for dry things and dry wood to burn in the rain, this can be a bit more challenging. Because there are designated campsites, people before you have done the same thing. The medium sized easy to find offerings of the forest are few and far between. There are lots of small sticks and plenty of big trees that have fallen. Small branches just right for the fire not quite as abundant. We played lots of games of pick of sticks. The small sticks are great for getting the fire going but not as good for keeping the fire going.
When building a fire you want kindling (small things, dry leaves, grass, and pine needles) in the bottom, then your small sticks and then you small logs. Fire burns up and needs oxygen to do so. This is why you want to layer your fire this way. Getting our fire started in the rain contained multiple challenges. First finding dry kindling, next finding appropriate sized logs. The outfitter included a small hand saw, Emy made this little saw fly through the downed trees like nobody’s business. She was a wizard with this nifty little tool. To conserve our energy (or more correctly Emy’s since she was doing the work of sawing) and our time, we often left the logs 2 or even 3 times longer than they needed to be and just fed them into the fire.
Let me talk about fire in the BWs for a minute. I am by no means an expert on fire, but I want to encourage caution always when it comes to campfires in the wilderness. It would be a shame if a careless moment caused a forest fire and hurt the natural beauty and homes of so many critters. When we fed these logs into the fire we watched them carefully. The part that stuck out of the fire we kept in areas that were sandy and not covered with dry grass, leaves, or pine needles. We always ensured our fire was completely out before we went to bed, even when this meant dowsing the logs with water. If there was wind we tried to keep the fire low in the pit and not burn items that were more likely to blow, like leaves. Emy and I are far from perfect; after all, no one is perfect. We made plenty of errors on our trips. Protecting against forest fires is important enough that I wanted to add this little plea for caution.
When we finally got that first fire burning in the rain on that first BWCA we felt like Tom Hanks on Cast Away. “We made fire! We made fire!” It was an amazing feeling! We have learned tricks as we went. A little cooking oil can help get the fire going. Also at the sporting good stores camping section you can buy little wicks or fire starting sticks. These come in quite handy. We learned all kinds of lessons while in the BWs. Some we learned more easily than others. Packing light is still a bit problematic for us.
If you reflect on your life I am sure you can think of many lessons you have learned, either the easy way or the hard way. My belief is that our souls chose to come into this world to have experiences that help us further understand our nature and about different aspects of ourselves. While I was still healing from my second marriage, a friend suggested I read, “The Little Soul and The Sun” by Neil Donald Walsh. It was a transformative book for me. It is a children’s book with lovely art work and a deep message. I have bought multiple copies of it and given it away to many people. I have no idea if it was as helpful to anyone else as it was to me. I certainly hope it was. It helped me to view my ex-husband as a loving soul who came down here to give me experiences to help me grow. It has helped me to be able to forgive both him and myself for the things that occurred during those 12 years of marriage. I tell you, the hardest person to grant that forgiveness to is ourselves. I am more capable of forgiving others, but to give that same Grace to myself is quite challenging. It is amazingly freeing when you can forgive yourself.
While Emy and I were enjoying the bliss of the sun, warm temperatures, and floating in the cool lake water with our blowup tubes, on a near perfect day, inspiration hit. I told Emy that I was choosing to experience my lessons through joy, from here on out. So often we view experiencing lessons through hardship or struggle. Sure, when things we view as “bad” happen to us we can see this as opportunities to grow and become a better version of ourselves. But why do we have to wait for a struggle or misfortune to happen for us to experience a lesson.
So many of my spiritual beliefs are based on the idea of intention. Intention carries great power and magic. When you intentionally set the intention for something, great things will happen. I had a Kundalini Yoga instructor who suggested that I set the intention for what I wanted to accomplish during a yoga class, whether it was physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. It is amazing how well that works. Thank you Della; it has changed my life. I set 4 intentions before BWCA #3 and all of them were attained. By setting the intention you focus the energy.
Manifesting is another way of setting your attention to focus the energy. If you can set the intention to manifest a new job (something I have done repeatedly), set the intention during yoga class to open your heart or find inspiration, or set the intention to fully understand a message (like happened for me with the deer while in the BWs), then why not set the intention that from now on you will experience your lessons through joy.
Emy and I agree that from now on we are choosing to experience our lessons through joy. Life may still not be perfect, (that would be rather dull anyway, right?) but why not increase the amount of joy, look for the silver lining in every cloud, and go through life with rose colored glasses. I embrace and love my inner Pollyanna and I have decided to let her out to play!
The day I wrote this I experienced a lesson through joy! I was booked on a flight that landed in Chicago but I did not have to deplane, the flight then was scheduled to go to Minneapolis. There was weather in Chicago so they cancelled the flight. There was a giant line at the airport and everyone was saying the evening flights were already booked. I was so sad at the thought of having to spend another night in Cleveland. I have a 9:30pm date with Marty on our bench. I was standing in line with 60 other people trying to figure out how to get home. Then a Miracle happened. They decided to change it to a direct flight to Minneapolis. Woohoo! Myself and 15 other people boarded the plane and I will get into Minneapolis an hour and a half earlier. I almost missed that it was a lesson through joy until I was journaling. I was journaling about how we think things will happen a certain way but even when plans seem set they change. That is when it hit me! That is exactly what had happened to me, only it turned out to be for the better. I am experiencing a lesson through joy! I had to share with you! Love you and may you find yourself inundated with lessons through joy!
Stacy Crep 