The First Go

Some background, maybe an introduction, and a discussion of what's to come! I hope! This stack will be more than a journal entry but less than whatever is more than that. So give it a bit!

I have always been good at telling stories, according to my mom. However, I never thought to write them down. I enjoyed telling stories to get laughs and seeing people’s reactions to the funny things a kid at camp said to me that day.

Something about writing a story down feels different from telling it, even though it's the same story. I think writing it down made it feel like it had to mean something, be serious, make a difference, or evoke a feeling in people. Versus just chatting away. Honestly, I didn’t think that I had anything to say worth writing down. I guess we’ll see if that’s true.

In the spring of 2024, I had just moved to a new state, started a new job, and had a relationship end abruptly. I got bangs and a bob. You can understand the state I was in.

I saw an opportunity with an organization I was familiar with from my time in graduate school. An organization that gets people into natural settings where they can work on writing and other creative endeavors. I didn’t really think about that; all I saw was “Float through the Grand Canyon,” and I filled out the application, probably talking about how sharing stories is crucial, how I’m an educator, and how impactful this would be. Which I did think, but was also only thinking about the river. I didn’t care what the course was focused on, I wanted to float the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

I didn’t get accepted. I responded to the rejection email with a thank you and an ask to be kept on a waitlist or to have my application on file for future trips. I promptly forgot all about it. The trip, the writing, and the fact that I didn’t get in were all just kind of wiped out of my mind.

In March of this year, I got an email “Open space on LOWER Grand Canyon workshop.” DANG. I had instant butterflies. Yes! Yes? No? Yes! After much debate, and many friends and family members saying “uhh, of course you have to go,” I went!

My trip was life-changing in so many ways that I will talk about on this stack, probably too much. I learned more than I thought I could in ten days and built relationships with amazing humans. But one of the most important lessons I learned is that anyone can tell a story and that all stories are (probably) worth telling. I also learned that writing can be humorous (wow!). There is an audience for everything, and even if that's just my mom and family members who receive this link, it will be worth sharing my stories.

Stay tuned for funny stories (may or may not be funny to all), musings from time on the river and other beautiful places, thoughts on our environment (maybe some issues?), food inspiration, and pictures to accompany it all.

RoughDraft was taken, leaving me with RaftDraft, which is okay, cause most of this writing happened on or near a raft! However, it will also be rough, so if you love grammar and well-thought-out thoughts, sorry!