It's just a series of putting one foot in front of the other. That's what my granny told me
when I asked her about the meaning of life. That was a decade ago now, but I think of it often when
I start to wonder what it's all for. I wonder what she'd think of how I've been spending my
time in January. Between you and me, it wasn't good. Over the past year, I've had to admit to
myself I am actually addicted to my phone. And if given the choice between scrolling on
TikTok for hours or facing cold, hard reality, I tend to scroll. Maybe you know what I mean
when I say that it seems like my only window to other people right now is through my phone.
Despite all this yearning for connection, I'm feeling even more disconnected than ever.
I go through so many emotions in a day feeling manic but not sure how to expend the energy.
Then I thought about what she said, and I knew I had to move.
Throughout my life, nature has been my soothing place.
Maybe I could learn something from her and commit to spending meaningful time in nature every day.
Maybe the consistency would heal me. Maybe it would teach me how to live more fully.
A tall order, yes, but one I was happy to take a gamble on.
So I devised a plan. I was going to hike every day for 30 days
and see what changed. I am surrounded by mountains by where I live in Reno. So I
scanned all trails and made a list of the hikes in the area that looked good to me.
Now, I've done a lot of backpacking trips, and I've got the creaky knees to show for it.
Oh God, oh God. So I knew I had to do a
mix of more challenging trails and shorter, easier trails if I was going to last the whole 30 days.
The point was not to punish myself, but rather to see if I could somehow fix this weird funk I'm in.
What actually happened, though, I couldn't have predicted.
I set out on day one to a familiar place. It was a six-mile hike to
a partially frozen waterfall near me that any locals will immediately recognize.
Although I hiked it alone, it didn't feel that way. Friendly people passed by.
I breathed in pine. I savored an hour at the waterfall alone.
And on my hike back out, I remember being amazed by the colors,
the palette of gold, red, and green. And I knew that, yes, this had been the right call.
Until, of course, day two when I decided I would casually hike 12 miles through the snow to one
of the tallest peaks in the area. Spoiler alert. It did not turn out quite right.
This hike is terrible. I'm just so fucking over it. I wish I hadn't done it.
I've hiked in the snow before and I've summited this very mountain before. Never had I combined
the two. And with the light snow year, I hadn't expected thigh deep snow. And I definitely didn't
expect all the different trails and footprints meandering in every which direction.
Well, I definitely followed the wrong trail despite my best efforts,
ended up climbing most of the way up Tamarack Peak, which is
up there. But I just wasn't on the right trail, so that will definitely set me back a bit.
I got spectacularly lost, despite, yes, using a GPS. I was also terrified of driving
back down the mountain. As a child of Southern California, I never learned to drive in the snow.
I didn't expect such an obstacle so early on in my commitment.
Was I just a winter novice thinking I could do this? The worst thoughts ran through my head.
Namely, that it was the first hike I had ever quit and that I was a failure.
But when I finally did find my way back to the trail, a beautiful sunset unfolded, and I knew
that it was all just a learning experience. So on I went putting one foot in front of the other.
So after yesterday's, I'm not going to say failure because it wasn't a failure,
a learning experience, I'm gonna take it a little bit easier today because I don't wanna,
like, keep doing these super long hikes and then make it very hard on myself to keep dedicated.
So I'm just gonna do something in Reno today that is still beautiful. And while it's not as amazing
as the other hikes I did, the whole point for me of doing this is just to consistently get outside,
not to waste time on things that are designed to take my attention,
and let nature just be the amazing healing force it is. So let's go on a little walk.
Hey, Kristin, how's the trail? Kristin: I don't have high hopes
for this exit process.
The sandwich made a really big difference.
When I'm out there, it feels like I could be in any point in time.
I can slow down and listen, or I can challenge myself and go higher,
faster. I can pause and look back at what I've done and feel accomplished. And I can rest at the
viewpoint in awe. And while not every day was a strict hike, I've seen beautiful things every day.
I've gotten to know where I live a little bit better to appreciate it more.
So it's day five now. I've done it. Like, so far, I've been getting out there. Except for now,
I'm just at the point where I don't even want...I wanna be lazy so bad today. I do
not want to go hiking today. I don't wanna go outside. I don't wanna put real clothes on.
I still might not put real clothes on, but I just don't feel like it.
And it's so funny because I feel like it's really hard to start things, but it's also
really hard to finish things, especially like this. I only have five days left, and
I'm just so close to finishing. And yet I don't even want to do this anymore. And
I don't know why that is. Maybe 30 days is just a lot. Maybe when I get to the end of something,
I don't know, in a way, I think sabotage it for myself.
That's where we're headed and for not gonna quit hiking today. Eh? No, huh?
So I'm not gonna let myself be lazy and come up with excuses not to hike. So I'm gonna get my
hiking gear on, get in the fucking car, and just go and enjoy it, see a sunset, see some golden
hour, and keep on with my goal because I'm so, so close right now. And I don't want to give up.
I don't really get to talk to people. Just seeing people is
really nice. And exercising ain't bad either.
I've been exercising more regularly, and I have way less pent-up energy. And these things I did
expect. But they weren't all I got. Let's do this.
One healthy decision begets another. And since I was already on this autopilot to improve my life,
I started eating a lot healthier, too. It was made easier by the increase I was feeling in self-love,
self-efficacy, and a desire to feed my body nutritious things.
And I wake up every day excited for the day because I know there's going to be an
adventure. An owl.
My body has also really changed over these 30 days, and I think I'm more
confident and stronger, too. So it's day 29. I'm one day away
from finishing, and I honestly cannot believe, really cannot believe how
much this changed everything. And I felt unproductive and, like, I wasn't doing anything
that mattered. And, like, maybe now I'm still not. But this at least matters to
me and my mental health. You gotta celebrate your strengths
in life, and one of mine is getting lost. Each day, especially when I haven't wanted to
hike, I've gotten...I've just done it anyway. I've just been, like, "Okay, I won't hike
tomorrow then, but I'm gonna hike today." And then I keep doing that, like, tricking myself
into the whole one day at a time thing. I'm not breathing really hard. Oh, and slipping
all over the place. But if I hadn't had this goal,
I think it would have been really a long time for me to get to know Reno's outdoorsy places.
There's an amazing abundance here that I wouldn't have discovered otherwise. And I think even when
you don't think that there's cool things in your own backyard, like, there are. It's kind of making
me realize, appreciating my surroundings more. Tomorrow is my last big day. I think I already
know where I'm going to go. It's not gonna be a super long one, but the view is amazing.
I heard before that it takes 28 days to develop a new habit. And it's definitely become part of
my routine to head out every evening for a hike or a walk, and I have a feeling this is gonna
become a bigger part of my life, bigger than it already was. And best of all, that screen time
has dropped a bit, too. Okay, still not perfect, but all I'm striving for is progress here.
And now that I've come to the end of those 30 days, I am asking myself what's next?
We're only in the middle of a long winter, which has quickly become one of my favorite times of
year. And for the first time in a month, I don't have a specific plan, but I do know this. Change
is available to anyone. It's not a special thing that only I get to do. Spending time in nature
is available to all of us, and it only worked for me by taking it one day at a time, by doing what
my granny told me so assuredly was the meaning of life, by putting one foot in front of the other.