Day 4: Sedona, AZ - Vortex

When you're in the Phoenix suburbs you leave the Valley of the Sun to have fun. This morning we drove pas the incessant sprawl bleeding over the desert out north through the rolling hills, valleys, and mesas to Sedona, red rock country. This is a unique place. The adobe houses and gorgeous views seem so idyllic. The area is harsh, barren, yet verdant with a bitterly refreshing wind.

Then we head to the so called "vortexes" after lunch. Supposedly at these beautiful vistas, there are massive amounts of energy. To me it's all mumbo jumbo, but there is something awe-inspiring about climbing to the top of a butte and soaking up all that sunshine, wind, and landscape. The layered red rock, and forested valleys brought about a euphoric feeling.

While I felt a rush of happiness it was time to move to a different vortex, so-called inflow because it is supposed to inspire introspective thought. Normally I don't believe this stuff, but since I was here I lowered my prejudices and placed my faith in nature. Amongst the spectacle of the Bonyton Canyon, I suddenly was overwhelmed with thought. I climbed to a comfortable place on a butte ledge and believed in those high rock walls. I peered up the faces of the canyon to the snowy ledges and all my worries and fears intoxicated me. I asked God all these questions about life and the harsh wind against my shirt seemed to signal some guidance.

I realized that courage, confidence, and faith are really key to life. There is so little I can do to change people around me, but through courage, confidence, and faith, I can be the person I want to be. I need courage to be different. As I queried the energies of the canyon about all my friendship and fears, I realized that I have to just lead my own path instead of comfortably allowing others to guide my way. Through my personal courage I can find and retain that identity I yearn for. If I have the confidence to take the leaps and risk to build relationships and myself, I can be more human, more in tune with my dreams. I don't know what will happen in my future, but faith will help. I need to plow my own path. With faith I can trust that everything will work out; I can lead my life fearlessly.

These vortexes may be real or fake, but Sedona really hit me. Nothing in life is truly magical or perfect, but I feel that life is meant to be that way. Maybe we need to believe in tackiness sometimes or take ourselves outside our comfort zones more often.

I feel like I am encased as a youth in a series of thick sheets of bubble wrap. Some people I know have shredded away many layers of plastic, but most of us, even into our adult years only pop a few of the bubbles and find a comfortable place suffocating inside the plastic. We suddenly are frightened by the sound of popping, the small mishaps in life, and stop trying to break free. Nobody is ever totally free from the bubble wrap, but I hope I can clear out the plastic sheets that cocoon me and be more real, more human, more me.

"Drive" - Incubus