…makes the whole world kin.” (Shakespeare but taken horribly out of context!).                                                                   I finally made it to Yosemite, after stopping at every viewpoint and overlook along the way, enjoying perfect, sunny weather.  Now that I’m snuggled in my depressingly dark, but blessedly clean condo

…I feel the exhaustion of the intense weekend and the lack of sleep hitting me. I should be out climbing mountains, but here I am taking a breather, hoping to find an internet connection in the village later to send off a quick blog post. As I recharge I am reminiscing about the first time I came to Yosemite. I was a senior in high school and taking an advanced science course called Biodesign. We studied plants, animals and man under the fine tutelage of Lowell Young, but the main reason we all clamoured to sign up for the class was that there were two field trips during the year and the first one was to Yosemite to hike to the top of Half Dome. Today, as I got my first glimpse of the Dome, it was not only magical but I wondered in awe how in the heck I was lucky enough to be one of a class of kids from a small town that got to sleep on it’s top. It was one of those times in my life that I can say “changed the course of history” for me. We were encouraged to discover ourselves through communing with nature, studying great men like John Muir, Ansel Adams and Thoreau. Lowell puts it all so much better than I could in his recently published book about his experiences of taking public high school kids into nature in Biodesign Out for a Walk. Check it out if you enjoy true, inspirational stories.

So here I am surrounded with this mind blowing beauty and remembering John Muir quotes like “I only went out for a walk and found out that going out was really going in,” and “In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks,” or “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.” That is what I am seeking as I stay here for a few days. Solace, inspiration, motivation, enlightenment, all things not only crucial to being a happy human being, but to being an extraordinary actor. Only by knowing myself and staying in touch with my humanity can I reach the stars of divine transformation into characters that are completely me and completely other. As Einstein says so well, “look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better.” I am looking for that this week, so watch out birds, mammals, rocks and trees, I am going to peer deep!