Hold the pose...

Good people!

  Hello, yet another entry at Summits Beyond. The title hopefully conjures images in the mind of meditation through movement, Sanskrit sweating, and enlightenment. Yoga. This really serves as a working metaphor representative of my transition back to Northern Virginia life after stepping up by stepping back from Outward Bound for a little bit. I was yearning family connection, weekends, friends and respite, so I hung my expedition hat on the rack for a bit and am working on settling in to a routine here in the ole' NOVA. I do find that although transitions are usually tough for me, this one (yes, is tough but) is equally filling with hope. Whewwww.....

   With some time and space to breathe, I have started two new ventures in employment, and am actively searching for what my "Grad School by 2013" campaign will look like. I plan to be in a master's program by 2013, somewhere at some point. Either Outdoor Education, or Counseling- but I DIGRESS.

   It is amazing to "hold the pose." I didn't think that coming back to Manassas would be challenging, but it completely is. I find my centered-ness off. I find my focus pulled by strange left-field doubts from time to time... "can I do this thing?" "Should I have left the woods?" "How do I build relationship with folks in society?" I am usually a pretty rock solid thinker. My time in valleys and mountains and glaciers and forests has made me pretty mentally strong, yet it is the concrete jungle that is getting me out of my comfort zone. My comfort zone is being pushed, not by the physical environment, but by the mentalscapes I now encounter in Manassas. Reconnecting my social network here, finding new employment, seeking new professional self-views? I am in a redefinition process. It is so new and so much and so full-on that this adventurer is enjoying sweating it out in process of redefining me and my world outside of the Outward Bound paradigm. Of course OB is like family to me. Of course I love the place. Of course I still instruct there. I am also enjoying the exploration of who I am by being in such a familiar place that is ironically so new and foreign to me. 

   I am literally re-mapping not only my professional self, but my personal self as well. Reconnecting with my parents, some childhood friends, my partner, and my profession here is a lot to take on. I am excited to be doing so. It is not easy. So here I am. Here I stand. Sweating out my heart, my soul, and my whole self while trying to maintain values, focus, goals, what I want, who I want, where I will go, and how my future is being constructed in this environment where there are no dinner circles, hugs to say hello, quotes, morning meeting/duty, etc.

Not a mixed message. I have left what I now know to return to where I have come from. I am encountering all sorts of new challenges I never knew existed. I am sure it is going to be okay, it's like that initial turbulence at take off... I am trying to balance what I know, what I see, what I feel and where I am. Here I am...   Holding the pose...

What inspires you to hold your "pose" ?

You can send reply to me through comments here, or through email, and I will post some of your responses here in the weeks to come...

Please pass on Summits Beyond to someone you know, especially if you think this Blog will inspire others to push their comfort to discover new growth.


In Adventure...


Kevin Shon