Rocky Mountain High

ok...yeah, I really did lay in bed last night thinking about the title for my newest set of prayer flags....which are going to be mountain peaks. I did actually look up John Denver and the lyrics to his iconic song. One has to start somewhere right?  I do not think that Rocky Mountain High is going to be the title for my new mountain peak flags..but I'm not absolutely sure yet. I'm just at the beginning of this journey.  What I really wanted to comment on, was that I am startled to discover that working on drawing beautiful mountain peaks and thinking about how they inspire me and learning about their geology is having a truly marvelous effect on me.

I am struggling right now. It is fire season on the west coast and massive tracts of forest are burning. I live on the edge of timber land and my home is considered to be at high risk for fire...not in this actual moment as I write this. At this moment the air is smoky, in the "unhealthy" zone  and there are about 30,00 acres burning 20 miles east of me...but no fire is bearing down on me in this moment. This is now the new normal for so many of us on the West Coast of the US. Its hard. Its heart breaking. I love the forests of the Pacific Northwest with all my heart and I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety this year.  I didn't choose to make mountain flags as an antidote to despair. I honestly had no idea that making mountain prayer flags would have such an effect on me. They have been calming me down and relaxing me and inviting me to think in spans of time that are practically unimaginable. Millions of years these beauties have been hanging around. The snow capped volcanoes of Oregon are helping me to get grounded and broaden my horizons and to see that life is much bigger and grander and infinite than my mind and my fears can comprehend. If you are having a hard time, as so many of us are, please know that my heart is with you and take a dose of mountain. I hope it helps.