Wilderness Quest 2011 - Part 3

I never did see that friendly scorpion again.  But then, I never looked for him, either.  I just didn't expect him to bother me, and he complied.  I wonder how he's doing now, six months later.

(Eek!  I just read that, depending on the species, scorpions can live to be between 4 and 25 years old!)

The first two full days of the quest are mostly spent doing three things: Learning about the lay of the land, learning about rituals that are conducive to getting the most out of our solo time, and spending time looking for our individual solo spot.

After much angst and inner worrying that I'll never find my solo spot, I found a pretty good place.  I could imagine it being my home for 84 hours of non-stop alone-ness.

Fast forward to the evening of day three.  After dinner, we talked a little and made sure that everyone had what he or she needed for this journey.  Quests really are a journey.  We enter the desert alone, leaving all behind.  We go in wonder and open-ness.  Open to hearing the message of the land, the whispers of our hearts.  We don't come back the same.

Soon, we entered silence and all went our separate ways for the night. 

When we woke up the next morning, we gathered all of our gear and wandered silently into the base camp for the ritual that would take us over the threshold into our time of solo.  After the ritual, we would be on our own for three days and three nights.

I am always struck how, during this time, I feel like I am walking into my own death, never to return.  There are usually tears as we hug each other goodbye.  It's amazing!  If we were in a Walmart parking lot and found ourselves hugging each other goodbye, knowing that we would see each other again in 84 hours, I swear it would not be so poignant.  (But I'd probably be crying for other reasons... Don't make me go to Walmart!!!)

After hugs, we stood in a circle and, one by one, said the one word that we wanted to take with us on our solo.  We knew that each of the other questers would be holding our word for us, also.

My word was...



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