Let the Mountains Be Our Teachers

“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than [one] seeks.” – John Muir

I am absolutely certain that you can learn every important life lesson there is to learn just by spending a few hours outside each day. And not just outside in your backyard. I’m talking outside in the mountains, in the forests, in the canyons, in the deserts, as far from civilization as you can get, and sometimes you don’t even have to go that far to find yourself in these places. Thirty minutes north of SF, across the Golden Gate, you’ll find yourself among the majestic redwood forests of northern California. My good friend Spencer and I spent our last Saturday in this heaven we call California at Muir Woods, named after John Muir, a naturalist that helped establish the National Park system.

We spent a good three to four hours here hiking around. The lower boardwalk area where you see most these giant redwoods can get pretty crowded, especially on the weekend. But there are several hiking trails that branch off from the main path that see considerably less traffic. These I would recommend, because these are where you get to really experience nature and the peace it brings. You can hear yourself think, and when there is no noise to crowd out your thoughts, you begin to discover the amazing lessons nature can teach you.

I have Spencer to thank for this post; he kept a list of what we were learning and was actively searching for additional insights. In those few hours, the mountains and the redwoods taught us six lessons:  

1. Pain and trials bring opportunity for growth. When one of those magnificent redwoods crashes down, it causes a lot of destruction to the surrounding area; however, that destruction brings the opportunity for new life and growth. It allows sunlight to reach the plants on the forest floor and the remains of the redwood provide nutrients for the new plants and shelter for animals. The forest grows in a new way.
2. Trials make you stronger. We saw several trees with scorch marks on them, indicating that at some point in the near past a fire must have run through the forest. As the redwoods heal from the burns, their plant material and bark becomes thicker around the burn marks, making them even stronger than they were before.
3. Strong, close families enable all members to better reach their potential. Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. We noticed that the redwoods grow together in clumps. You rarely see a redwood growing by itself, and if it is, there will soon be others around it (and by soon, I mean years and years later, but when you live to be 2,200 years old, that’s soon). The root system of a redwood is very shallow in proportion to its height, yet it can reach such heights because the root systems of the surrounding trees intertwine and weave together while spreading outward. They help each other reach the heights they achieve.
4. Don’t quit at 90 percent. Spencer and I hiked to the top of this trail and enjoyed a beautiful view of the valley and the distant ocean. On our way back down, right near the top, several people were making their way up and most of them asked us how much farther the top was. They seemed ready to give up and turn back and miss the incredible reward they had waiting for them at the top.
5. First you must have faith that the path will get you there, but then you must actually walk the path to get there. We trusted that the trail we were taking would bring us to the destination we desired, but what good would that have done us if we didn’t actually walk forward on the trail? We would have gone nowhere. It was acting on our faith that enabled us to find what we were looking for.
6. Sometimes perceived setbacks are actually the way forward. There were many points on our hike where the trail began slopping downward, even though we knew that we needed to go up. But that didn’t mean that we stopped at the first downward turn and decided that the trail must not be the right one because it wasn’t going up like we knew it needed to. Even though we were going down instead of up, we were still progressing forward to our destination.

Our view from the top. Definitely worth it.

Learning

There is no denying that I have the BEST major ever. Seriously, the accounting students are super spoiled. And I love it. I’m getting to have so many great experiences because of it. Case in point, last Saturday PwC treated us and a guest to a ski day at Sundance, so I brought little Heather up to teach her how to ski! She freaking rocked it. That girl is a natural. It must be something about that Panhandle blood (she’s from Spokane). We were born to play in the snow or something.

Obvs a natural.

Besides skiing, they served us lunch and we had time to network with some of the professionals. I made a beeline right to the San Jose table so I could chat with one of the recruiters. The more I learn about San Jose and the market there, the more excited I get about going there. It’s the tech capital of the US, if not the world, and the companies there are always growing and changing, making for some exciting and challenging work. PwC also brought in Comedy Sportz to perform for us. Basically, it’s our local version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? Is that show even on still? I can remember staying up late to watch episodes of that and almost peeing my pants. I think Comedy Sportz did them justice.

So I learned three things that day: 1) I really really really really really wish I had time to be a ski instructor. I LOVE teaching people how to ski. I love seeing how excited they get when they catch on and how eager they are to learn more; 2) I’m really liking what I see at PwC. I didn’t know that much about them before, but from what I’m learning about the people that work for them and their culture, I’m definitely interested in exploring my options with them; 3) I’m still an Idaho girl, through and through. I will always swear by Idaho skiing, especially the Schweitzer variety. I mean, I guess Sundance isn’t the best place to judge the Utah skiing scene. I should probably expand those horizons. But for now, I’m all Idaho.

In other exciting news, Candice and I took Heather ring shopping yesterday! Yes, that does mean that we acted like giddy school girls. And yes, that also means that Candice and I were trying on rings. I found a lovely Neil Lane one. Now I just need to find someone to buy it for me. Anyway, Heather is approaching the day when a very lucky man will ask for her hand in marriage. And she deserves it more than anyone I know. They actually met on a blind date (I’m glad to see those working out for someone) about a month and a half ago. I know, you’re probably thinking WHOA! Isn’t that moving a little fast? Aren’t they rushing into it? And usually I would agree and be questioning the future of that relationship. But in this case, I don’t at all. They are both very sensible people. They are both at the point in life where they know what they’re looking for, and they communicate all of that to each other. I don’t know how I know, but I just know that they will make each other very happy. So I’ll be looking forward to some wedding bells this summer, and that means pictures!!!! It’s been too long since I’ve had a good photo shoot.

Well, second round of midterms start tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s already March. And that means summer is right around the corner! I can’t wait for sunshine and swimming and hiking and camping and road tripping. It’s going to be quite wonderful.

Summing Up

Ok, ok. I know this is long in coming. I’ve been back for over a week now. But, as I’m sure most of you know, coming home after an extended stay, far away, is a lot of work. You have to unpack and you want to see all the people you’ve been missing for weeks or months. But it’s here now, and that’s all that matters.

So now that this amazing trip is over, did I accomplish what I set out to do? Did I achieve the growth I was looking for? Yes and no. The no is short, so I’ll start with that. The only thing I would do over is speak more Spanish. It was insanely difficult, especially because we were together as a group so often, and we’re all English speakers. So maybe my Spanish didn’t improve as much as I wanted it to, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t improve at all! I can understand it now like nobody’s business (don’t quote me on that). Those Spaniards are the fastest speakers of the Spanish-speaking world. If you can remotely understand them, you can understand everyone else. My confidence in speaking definitely went up. I don’t feel awkward or weird starting a conversation in Spanish anymore. It actually seems pretty natural. I dunno how much my speaking ability improved, but I feel like I’m slightly more articulate now. That’s acceptable, right?

And now to expand on the yes. I’ll admit, I had to look back at my first post to even remember what it was I wanted to do. “Growth, and lots of it,” is what I said. Well, I found that growth I was looking for and learned some surprising things too. I feel like I’ve gained a confidence that can only be gained by stepping completely into a foreign world. I think I could navigate my way around the planet now with little trouble, and I definitely outgrew that terrified feeling I had at the beginning. That’s not to say I won’t have some apprehension about going somewhere new. That always comes with something new. I just think I’ll know how to handle the situation better.

I’ve grown in my awareness of the other people of this world and my tolerance for different points of view. I’m a white girl from North Idaho that goes to school in Utah, so I can’t say I’ve been exposed to much diversity, until now. I feel like I better understand the role of culture in people’s lives and how it influences their living and thinking. If you take the time to know the culture, you’ll know the people.

I think most importantly, I’ve grown in my love for people. I’ve realized the great worth of everyone’s souls and seen that we are all sons and daughters of God, no matter what our race or nationality is. There are so many GOOD people on this earth, trying to make the world a better place by making their cities and communities a better place. There is still hope for humanity.

I was surprised by how normal it felt to be in Spain. It didn’t really feel like a foreign country (I realize that Spain is a developed country and that if I went to a developing country, that notion would be blown out of the water). Sure, everything was in Spanish, but it still didn’t feel that different. I used to think of foreign countries as these big, interesting but scary places, where everything is different and you have to completely change everything you do to adapt. I quickly realized that’s not true. There’s little things here and there that you might have to change (like shorter showers and no carpet and different eating times), but it’s not like you went to live with lions or something. You’re still living with people.

The most interesting thing I learned (besides arco de medio punto!) is that we really aren’t that different from the rest of the people in the world. I think the similarities outweigh the differences. We are all striving for one thing: happiness. We just might look for it in different ways. I loved learning how these cultures found happiness in their lives. It opened me up to new ways of finding joy in my own life.

One last thing, I’ve learned to appreciate the life I have here and the blessings and opportunities available to me (like free water and free refills! Just kidding, but only kind of). Seriously, we live in a great country with amazing freedoms that I will try not to take for granted anymore. I’m so grateful to be here.

So even though I didn’t become as fluent as a native speaker, I think I learned some really important life lessons that will stay with me longer than my Spanish would have. All that’s left to say is thank you. Thank you to all who have influenced my life in such a positive way. I wouldn’t have been able to have this experience without you.

What will become of this blog, you might ask? Don’t worry, I will keep updating it, although probably not twice a week. Remember, it’s about my adventures abroad AND at home. Trust me, I always find some sort of trouble fun, wholesome thing to get myself into, so keep checking back! Until then!