Walk on the Wild Side 2008

Click here to see more photos: Walk on the Wild Side

"Every body needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul." ~John Muir

To all you that dared to walk on the wild side. May Nature continue to heal you... cheer you (we sure laughed a lot)... and give strength to body and soul. I finish the week filled with gratitude and appreciation for how diverse people can come together and support each other so beautifully along the path.

I hope that each of you carry a bit of the aliveness of the wilds back with you into your daily lives. As the poet David Whyte asks, "What shape waits in the seed of you to grow and spread its branches against a future sky?" May that seed grow strong and touch others with aliveness.

Wildly, Steven

P.S. Check out these sites for more photos of our group:
Richard photos
Where is Hello Kitty... look for the Esalen/Big Sur posts

The Way of Nature

The Way of Nature... here is a video (a first) taken with my camera from our walk in Big Creek. For photos and a group shot of our time in the wilds click here: The Way of Nature

What a great weekend. Thank you all for participating so fully.
Here is a Rumi poem:

The clear pool at the center changes everything.
There are no edges to my loving now.

I've heard it said there's a window that opens
from one mind to another,

but if there's no wall, there's no need
for fitting the window, or the latch.

Open Secret Versions of Rumi by John Moyne & Coleman Barks

May the Way of Nature be with you...
Steven

Big Sur Wilderness Experience April 2008

BSWE on the path into the wilds of Big Sur

It never ceases to amaze me how each and every group comes together to form its own characteristics and distinct personality. Each an every individual brings some critical thread to the fabric of our group. This last week our group wove some beautiful fabric.

The start of my 2008 Esalen workshop "season" began with Big Sur Wilderness Experience Description and the group came together in a heartfelt and adventurous way. Spring is in full gear here and it is said that, "Big Sur in not so much a place as a state of mind." We entered "Big Sur Mind" and sprang forth into the trails of the inner and outer wilds.

For more photos of our group click here: Big Sur Wilderness Experience Photos

Here are the first lines of he David Whyte poem I read on our last day...

What to Remember When Waking
In that first
hardly noticed
moment
to which you wake,
coming back
to this life
from the other
more secret,
moveable
and frighteningly
honest world
where everything
began,
there is a small
opening
into the new day
which closes
the moment
you begin
your plans.

What you can plan
is too small
for you to live.

What you can live
wholeheartedly
will make plans
enough
for the vitality
hidden in your sleep.

Thanks to each and every one of you... may your transitions into your daily life be full of the aliveness and vitality of our week.

Wildly,
Steven