I’ve just graduated from the New Mexico College of Natural Healing, with 867 hours of training in massage therapy.

For some reason my thoughts turn a year or so back, to the end of the yearlong in Wisconsin. Reflecting on that experience, I still think that was the most intense year of my life. But it pushed me way past my limits, to a place where I wasn’t ready to go and didn’t have enough support. I ended up essentially learning to respect my own limitations.

Now I feel like I’m headed back to that place of connectedness with all my relations, in a more sane way. This past year has been in some ways the antithesis of the Wilderness Guide program. The training was largely spent indoors, catering to the needs of comfort and the body rather than exploring the environment. But I have found that in essence one leads to the other. This year I feel more strongly grounded in my body, and that, in turn, I believe, will lead me toward greater awareness of and connection with the world I live in. It has already started to do so. I’ve been intimidated by the vast field of herbs (as wild edibles or medicinals) for a long time, never saw myself getting into them; but with the help of my teachers and fellow students here in Silver City, have started exploring that gateway to connection as well. It’s funny, I have more enthusiasm about herbs now than I did when I lived in the woods.

Which is, I suppose, as it should be. I gain a little knowledge here, a little inspiration there.

We’re leaving for New York soon, where Abigail will finish her degree in music therapy. (This has been her year off; she’s just graduated with me, with a degree in herbal medicine.) En route, we’ll be visiting a bunch of schools for Oriental medicine, so that I can get a grasp on where I’d like to go to school. That will be my next step.