Blank Pieces of Paper I Loved Too Much

I was cleaning out my office (a big job!) when I found this lined eye-ease paper I bought in the late 1980's.  Seriously, I've been saving this paper since the 1980's. 

You can't know the wonderful qualities of this paper by looking at it.  It is thicker than regular paper and doesn't wrinkle easily.  It has a wide left margin for taking notes on your notes...

Why did I keep this?  It wasn't just about the physical attributes.  This paper is symbolic.  It's because this is the paper I used when I went back to college after taking a year off to figure my focus out.  

It's good to remember that sometimes you go through a period of figuring things out and come to other side, to a point of clarity.  That's what this paper means.  

In the end, I tore it up.  Because life is full, and doesn't have room for bins labeled "Blank Pieces of Paper I Love Too Much."   I decided to write about it and make room for what actually matters now. 

Flat Map Round World

(Thank you to photographer Joe Braun for letting me use his images in this post.)

When I was nineteen, a guy friend and I went to Acadia Park in Maine traveling on the Park Loop Trail to visit Thunder Hole. On a whim, we pulled over to the side of the road for a minute and my friend said, "Let's do a hike!"

used with permission Joe Braun Photography

"Okay!" said I, looking at the lovely stairway to heaven and ignoring the name of the trail. This was 30 years ago and they didn't have the big caution signs on the trail, or images of iron rungs in rocks on the sign leading to the trail. Or maybe I ignored them.  I was 19..  

I skipped up those steps 

in my Dr. Scholl's sandals.  

Circa 1977 Ad

Had I been training to do climbing? No.  

Had I eaten lunch and did we have water?  No.  

Did I have climbing shoes on?  No.

Did I mention I was wearing Dr. Scholl's sandals???

We were unprepared. But off we went. The beautiful staircase gave way to a steeper climb, which eventually was iron rungs going straight up the side of a cliff.  I remember shaking from hunger and exertion. 

used with permission Joe Braun Photography

When we got to the top,
it was exhilarating in more ways than one. 

I was grateful for many things,
My life being one of them.

See all of Joe Braun's photos of this trail here. 

used with permission Joe Braun Photography

I know now, as a thinking adult, that this trail can be dangerous if you are not fully prepared. People have died on this trail. It's not funny that I was wearing Dr. Scholl's sandals. I was taking my life in my hands, and I was lucky to have gotten to the top and back down the easier trail.  

If there is a lesson here, it is that symbols on flat maps don't always give a sense of the roundness of the world to be traveled. Life doesn't always either. Sometimes you find yourself gripping iron rungs with sweaty hands. You get through it, and you learn from it so you are more prepared the next time.