PERSONAL ESSAY
Leaving a Mark to Find My Way
The art of losing sight of your tracks while staying light on your feet
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I’ve lost my way from time to time. In life more often than on the trails. It’s usually part of the process. Things happen, and regardless of stress and anxiety, it seems to bring me to the edge of my ability. Nothing else matters at that moment. It’s mindfulness outside of the yoga shala. No music, no calm voice guiding you, and no scheduled time for when the class will be over. And sometimes, it’s an absolute nightmare.
I use my wristwatch. If it’s clear this is all going wrong, I check the time while keeping an eye on the sun before considering my options. Continue forward? Find my way back? Or even eat something to get my head straight. The latter has proven most efficient on several occasions. Stop, reload, reconsider — then act. Usually, the path you’re looking for is right in front of you, just as in life. You just need a minute of reboot to see it.
There’s a trail going west from the village, across the railroad, and up past the cave house. Halfway you’ll find the old road heading south over the Coll de Sóller and towards Palma. If you get high enough, you’ll eventually come down on the other side of Puig de sa Galera, where the sea meets land like heart meets soul, and from there, you can walk back, either toward the port or directly past Son Mico.
It bounces, the stress of modern life, back and forth in a steady cycle. And sometimes the flicker of it all becomes too much, and I need to escape, out and up into this holy land. Up here, you can rest your eyes without someone telling you how to think and act or convince you he has all the things you didn’t know you were missing.
I bring my phone. There are no guarantees, but I’ve had some incidents without it, and I’m wiser now. It’s turned off and in my backpack, and it feels good to know it’s there. I’ve got an ID tag around my neck, with both ICE and blood type, just to make things easier if it all goes bad. Other than that, it’s just the watch, water, an extra T-shirt, and simple things like oranges, apples, peanuts, and olives. It’s enough for me, even on a full day.
