Wilderness Reflections :: Expressions





	Our programs guide people to a deep and intimate knowing of Nature in all of its vast, wild glory – and towards a similar intimacy with Life and Self. As a result, tremendous vital and creative energies are released and amazing creative expression flows out of people. This comes in many forms – words, art, song, dance. This page is a gallery for these passionate, heartfelt expressions that come from living more intimately with wildness – both outside of us and within. It is a place for us to speak of who we are and to let Nature speak through us – in a way beyond normal conversational language. It is also the voice of the human psyche in solitude, alone in the wilderness of spirit, emotion, body, memory, dream, thought and The Great Mystery. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Very few times in my life will I be able to say that one moment of time, a few days, has transformed me into the being I am meant to be. While struggling with depression, I opened myself up to the healing and rite of passage rituals of ancient and modern traditions, and allowed Wilderness Refections to take my hand on the journey of healing myself, of chiseling away at my sadness, and revealing my true being, and from that a new soul of mine was born. My artwork, my music, my poetry, and my appreciation for life revealed themselves to me in the high desert. I was reborn, truly, and the basis of who I am rests in the aspen tree, bones, wild onions, and the eerie sunsets of the high desert." – Ariel Marx, Youth Quest 2003 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Songs of the Desert, Death Valley, Jan. 2006 New Year's 2006 brought an unusually wet, warm weather pattern to Death Valley. In typical courageous fashion, all the questers harvested the difficult conditions for its hidden gifts and lessons. Included among the treasures received were these songs: Abendigo Reebs Ariel Wolter Sam Malkemus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Tribe Not til' I was alone did I realize the power of your presence Not til' hunger hit me did I understand the emptiness you filled Not til' silence surrounded me did I truly treasure your voices Not til' I played the solo drum did I notice your sounds missing in my beats Not til' weakness took over my body did I recognize the energy you provided Not til' loneliness filled my heart did I crave the love you give Not til' the sun set did I miss your shouts to the night sky Not til' now did I understand how much you mean to me – Siera Levenson, Youth Quest 2004 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ – Julie Ann Weiss, "DayQuest Woman" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hungry for Courage Hungry for Courage Hungry for Courage Courage in my life Courage in my life Life full of passion Life full of passion Passion through my Rock Passion through my Rock Rock telling stories Rock telling stories Stories made of layers Stories made of layers Layers to my soul Layers to my soul – Chant by Jessica Adamich, Youth Quest 2002 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rites of Passage "In Nov. of last year I signed up for the senior vision quest. It is a program offered by my high school that takes a group of interested seniors out to Death Valley, CA for one week in the desert. Two days and nights of that week are spent fasting, and alone. It is designed to offer young people, at the crux of society’s cross roads, a rite of passage. It was an experience I will carry with me forever. February 19th was my eighteenth birthday. I had been preparing my whole life for that day to be just another day. It is, after all, just another birthday. Society has made it a crossing to adulthood with laws and added privileges, the right to vote, the ability to buy fire arms, cigarettes, pornography, lottery tickets, and to be tried and sent to prison with all of the other ‘adults’. I never imagined that day as being any more significant than the day I got my queen-sized bed, because I knew becoming an adult was more than the government saying I had become one. I did not expect to be spending that day out in the desert on my own. It was not until a month away from the trip that I realized my birthday fell on the two days I would be on my solo. Serendipity had given me a chance to carry the experience with me out of the desert, and into my memory, by laying the spiritual over society’s timeline. I went out into the desert, having detached as much as I could from the pain of the past and the pressure of the future. I carried no expectations, only hopes, and an empty journal. I went out into a silence I had never known before. Without the distractions of my modern life, I realized that even my mind had been trained to distract me. I spent two days sifting through the noise of my own thoughts, finding that fear and worry had become too much a part of my life. I found that away from all of my homework, the comings and goings of high school, away from the alarm clock and the telephone...that there were things much more important in my life. When all that mattered was staying warm under a star scattered sky, when all of my thoughts were my own and my words free to fly without criticism, I began to trust my voice. I found that I did not go out into the desert to discover some great new truth. I went out to discover that I already held that truth within me. I went out there to learn to trust my voice. I had been waiting long enough to speak my truth. I understood I had nothing to lose except that chance. My trip to Death Valley was only a beginning, a realization. I am still trying to bring the desert back into my life, though I am awakening, now, to the power of my experience. The desert offered itself to me as a metaphor for where I was in my life’s path. The desert is filled with the seeds of life, waiting for rain. Under every stone is a fine dust of hope for new life. I went out into it with my own seeds of truth, I have been waiting with them all of my life. I went out to discover the first storm clouds gathering on the horizon.” – Erika J., 18, Senior Quest School Program ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I sat down on top of a rock and asked it what true happiness was, and it told me: Happiness is to be able to run your fingers through sand, to grasp the charred limbs of a lightning struck tree that has fallen to its knees, to be able to listen to the melody of a bird and while letting the wind run across your face or weaving the night into the prescence of your heart, hearing the simplest prayer – Nick Kraus, 17, Youth Quest 2005 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sunset of Solo Firefruit Liquid lightning candy radiance whispers last words to a fading sea of new born blue Each embraces, crying out flames of cloud Each holds the other, consuming the sky A passion of rasberry lava tongues savouring the last moment of ebbing time An icy vengenence begins to whip and scream desperate to unlock smoldering hands Craves the midnight blue blackness Horizons hold strong emersing the world in their rich love even if just for moments Buried deep in the orange hearth Fading mothers devotion Out of Breath Frozen Tears A gasp of empty ice and the floodgates of night are forever burst – Stephen Nayfach, 17, Youth Quest 2003

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