Acadia: A Photo Essay

Yesterday, I was on a hiking trail with a friend when I realized something: “This doesn’t look familiar — I wonder if we’re on the right trail”. Later, we found our way, and then started heading off the mountain towards what I thought was another peak. Pretty quickly though, I had to admit: “Hmm, this is different” and soon thereafter, “Okay, we’re officially not where I thought we were”.

Embarrassment turned into a mild-grade fear and then, as the blue blazes started appearing again with frequency, I had to smile and laugh out loud a little. We definitely weren’t where I thought we were, but we were still enjoying ourselves.

I never plan on getting lost at Acadia when I take someone in the woods on a trail with me, but that doesn’t stop it from happening.

It can be more than a little inconvenient. But this time, it seemed to be happening for a reason.“You know what’s funny?” I told my friend, “The title I just chose for my next book is something about getting lost. I don’t know if it’ll stick, but it sure does seem fitting right about now.” She laughed. Then she said something powerful⤵

“Wherever we end up is exactly where we were meant to be today.”

I felt something wash over me just then — contentment. Not my most familiar feeling but certainly a welcome one. And since contentment is something I’ve been working on lately, I soaked it in. She was right, I was exactly where I was meant to be in that moment — I was me, I was in the woods, and I felt good. The great naturalist John Muir said,

“Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.”

I don’t know about you, but there are lots of pine trees just outside my door. I think I’ll walk through a few thousand more and keep discovering new ways of life — one after another. Rediscovering. Redefining. Finding new ways to love my family, new ways to take care of myself, and new ways to step into a kind of contentment I’ve never known before. One that’s full of adventure, big dreams, and deep relationships. One that’s wherever I am.

Wherever you are today, I hope you’ll walk through a few pine trees of your own and join me. Rediscover and redefine whatever you need to so you can love your people and really live your life.