Need New Ideas? Try a Change of Scenery

Need New Ideas? Try a Change of Scenery

Innovative thoughts are often found beyond our usual spaces and the same-old-same-old thought patterns they create. Our minds engage more creatively and form new thought paths when immersed in unfamiliar settings. Here are five ideas about finding inspiration while exploring Canyon Country.

  1. The Time Is Now: People have called the canyons home for thousands of years. From what the first people left behind it’s clear they lived with the ferocious intention required to survive this unique environment. While times have certainly changed, we should follow their example by consciously crafting the life we want while knowing that the time is NOW.
  2. What Starts Small Can Become Huge: Ginormous canyons often begin their lives as shallow washes. Just because the first step of an amazing undertaking looks like nothing much, we have to start someplace. Keep working and the experience will get deeper.
  3. Many Layers Make Up the Whole: Canyon Country geology recounts hundreds of millions (even billions) of years of history. To best comprehend the landscape, we must know the story behind it. People are the same; it is important to understand how our perspective and those of others have been crafted over time and how they motivate behaviors.
  4. Acceptance Brings Peace: People who are new to the canyons are often unhinged by the amount of sand in everything. Especially when spring winds blow, a fine grit finds its way into unthinkable places. The only way to successfully deal is to accept there will be times of sandiness, times of less sandiness and eventually, a time without sandiness at all. Acceptance opens us to engage fully with our experiences (even if we don’t like them) and allows us to live in the present.
  5. Stillness Inspires Movement: Canyons can be the calmest, most still, silent places besides outer space. It’s incredible what comes to mind when there is not a single distraction. In still silence, we’re inspired to discover and pursue new directions.

Go outside this week, check out new places and expose yourself to some fresh spaces. It might be just what you need to show up and take things to the next level.

 - Eli Shostak

Eli Shostak, Lecturer of Adventure Education at FLC

Eli is a Lecturer of Adventure Education at FLC with expertise in mindful leadership, expedition planning and leadership, and tons of experience leading others in finding the personal and interpersonal benefits of exploring wild spaces.