Road Trip to Empowerment – By Kay Richardson & Sarah Fuelling

May 17, 2007 at 1:17 am | Posted in Articles | Leave a comment

Sarah and I pulled into Yellowstone’s north entrance at 2:00 a.m. and were greeted by the official National Park warning: “Beware of Bison!” The bright yellow flyer had a comic yet equally horrifying black sketch: a bison, head down, horns forward, tossing a flailing human into the air, his camera flying. On this dark, moonless night, with no other human being in sight, we were thrilled to arrive, but uncertain whether to proceed.

The Power of Facing Our Fears
There was no one to collect our entrance fee, no one to tell us if we were safe to continue, and no one to help us if needed. We each heard the voice of caution familiar to many women—am I taking too great a risk? There are times to heed that voice by not continuing and times to simply hear it, recognize the possible dangers, and trust your instinct to move ahead.

Road trips provide multiple opportunities for empowerment, beginning with the chance to face our fears. Each time we push past what’s comfortable and succeed, we gain confidence in our power of discernment. This frees us to live an adventurous life!

That night in Yellowstone, we embraced just such an opportunity. With adrenaline pumping, we drove on into the park for one of the most exciting and beautifully eerie experiences we’ve ever had. Everywhere we looked, there seemed to be eyes—little dots of light in the night looking back at us—a set of two here, a group of many there. We drove slowly, taking it all in.

The Power of Spontaneity
After an hour or so we parked our trusty Saturn on the paved shoulder. It was very late; we’d covered many miles that day. It’s surprising how comfortable you can get with reclined seats, a pillow, and a sleeping bag.

On that trip we simply stayed wherever was convenient. Ironically, we’d planned it that way. Our day-to-day lives were filled with deadlines, decisions, and goals to reach. This road trip was an opportunity to step outside that and simply do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted—a unique chance to let the children in us play and the adults rest.

By 4:00 a.m., we just wanted sleep. So we got comfortable in the car, giggling at ourselves for selecting the one spot in front of a pay phone. You know, just in case one of those bison got ideas…

The Power of Others
One of the things you discover on road trips is how many interesting, kind, and caring people there are in the world. There were the folks who gave us gas when we realized our tank was nearly empty in a huge national park with the nearest gas station miles away. There was the camp host who brought extra firewood and doted on us like a grandfather. There were the countless smiles and moments of small talk.

It’s easy to become wary of strangers, particularly with the barrage of tragic stories in the media. Road trips are a chance to experience firsthand the larger community we live in and feel support outside our usual world of friends, family, and colleagues. The power of that knowing includes a sense of greater security in our day-to-day lives and a feeling of connection rather than isolation from others.

The Power of Self-Knowledge
Yellowstone Park was one of many destinations on that luxuriously long road trip, and through our journey together, we got to know ourselves in a new way. We were open to such learning because we had fewer distractions and time to consider our experiences. Unlike many life lessons that require big change for us to stop and notice, the things we learned were, for the most part, fun and easy.

Many of these lessons were practical nuggets of wisdom about what we really need to be comfortable. You can live without a hair dryer—but not without toothbrush and toothpaste. Moist wipes can clean hands, clean spills, clean the car, and clean your body in a pinch. A hot shower is one of life’s greatest sensual pleasures. Clothes that “feel like you” are essential and empowering. Having gear that keeps you cozy in any weather frees you to enjoy the outdoors. Less is more; being able to find what you need because your space isn’t cluttered is freeing.

The Power of Creating Your Dreams
As we got to know our essential selves in a new way, our real dreams for our lives had room to surface. Around late-night campfires, we rediscovered some of our childhood dreams and explored others we wanted to pursue. We decided to act on them by writing down “My Five Dreams.” We began: “I co-create with the universe…” and then listed five of our most significant life dreams. This brought them right into the present, as we took responsibility and claimed support from the spiritual realm to attract our dreams into our lives. The expansiveness of the road was echoed in our dreams—rather than being limited to one, we had five to expand on. This helped us develop an exciting life vision to take home, inspiring us to continue on our highest path.

The Power of Forgiving Yourself
Another tool we hit on in our travels was the power of giving ourselves a break. We did some soul searching by writing things from the past we were carrying guilt or regret about. Then, from a spiritually connected place, we simply said, “I forgive myself for _____.” The joy of being spontaneous on the road was magnified by the lightness of being that comes from truly forgiving oneself.

The Power of Being
The ultimate power of any road trip is the opportunity to be a “human being,” rather than a “human doing.” Most of us live such hectic daily lives that we don’t realize we are whole and complete just by being ourselves. Instead, we are constantly in motion, our focus on the next thing to be done or on the list we haven’t gotten to. As a result, we can become disconnected from our experiences, unaware of who we are or what we need because we are too busy to notice. We become unable to adjust our lives to better suit our dreams and passions because we don’t have enough time to do so or the self-knowledge to make good choices. There is incredible power in stepping outside our typical selves and venturing into the unknown.

Leaving behind the familiar can be frightening, even intimidating, and we often engineer our lives to avoid such situations. But the joy of travel and being with friends can push us to venture into those places, with the added bonus of it being our choice to do so rather than circumstances making the choice for us. The resulting learning and life experience are bonuses over and above the simple pleasures of a road trip.

So take the chance to face your fears. To be spontaneous. To reach out to others and be touched by them. To know yourself. To create your highest dreams. To forgive yourself, and to simply be. And if your road trip takes you to Yellowstone, watch out for those bison!

About the Authors: This article was written by Kay Richardson, MFT, and Sarah Fuelling. More at http://www.kayrichardson.com.

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