Canoe camping in the backcountry is always an adventure.  We had been away from it for a few years as our kids no longer fit with us in the canoe and it meant taking a second canoe and portaging it- with two kids who at that point were starting to say they were not interested.  Finally however, my kids asked this spring when we were going to go canoe camping again, and my eldest asked to bring a friend.  Fast forward to August and we planned a 7 day 6 night trip in the back country routes of beautiful Algonquin Park. Which we quickly cut it to 6 day, 5 nights, realizing our over zealousness before leaving. In the end it we came home a day early.  I wanted to stay longer, but the boys did not.  At first I wanted to fight it, after all I was loving it out there despite all the work of setting up camp just about daily and paddling almost daily.  I wanted to stay and I wanted them to want to stay.  But we not everyone wants the same things.    It’s important to listen to his and see what it brings up. Conflict, whether external or internal is full of many lessons.  This one was a lesson in letting go and accepting what was in that moment.  There was no fighting it, and the first step was recognizing this.

Aside from leaving early, the downside was that it meant we had to paddle a longer route in one day.  Essentially we were in the canoe for about 6 hours with one lunch break on land at a portage.  This was nothing new for my husband and I, however, it was a first for my boys in terms of them having to paddle that long. It was the price they had to pay to leave early, no other way.  Had it been along rivers or still waters or with the current probably not such a big deal.  However, the winds had picked up that day and with the exception of a 10 minute paddle through a calm river, for the most part we were riding the waves.  The winds were so bad at one point that to even lift my paddle out of the water and push it forward to dip in again was difficult as the wind pushed it.  The waves were fierce, not allowing for any break in paddling at all on several of the lakes.  We had to keep paddling to stop from being tipped.  Witnessing others on a day trip (no camp gear) being tipped over certainly did not help with these fears! Fear can be a destructive force that interferes with moving forward.

This is something that comes up a lot for people when they are trying to establish a creative practice.  If it is not the inner critics and inner musings that try to block the creative journey, sometimes it feels like outside forces throw you off your path.   I could have fought their wish to return earlier, and imposed my  desire to stay longer. What good would that do? Sometimes part of the journey is dealing with the bumps, or even the crashes along the way.  We can try to exert brut force (mentally/emotionally) or we can just ride the waves and see what we learn along the way.

When we begin to see our patterns of resistance in our creative practice it opens us to see how those same patterns are manifested in our day to day lives.  Through our creative practice we can begin to recognize the blocks which are self-created, and those that are much-needed lessons.  When we begin to let go and be led by our inner wise self or intuition, then things will flow more efficiently.   When we allow our creative practice space to grow, it can become an amazing teacher for our life. Our creativity can show us what happens when we shift our perspective, try something new, or open to the possibilities.

Sure it can be a bit of a wild ride at times.  We may feel scared or frustrated and want to quit.  We may feel the burden of too many unknowns, unfamiliar experiences and push aside our creative desires or worse give up on them.  Or we can ride the waves, paddle through them with courage, knowing that we will get to where we need to go eventually. We need to embrace our inner wilderness which is the essence of our creativity.

The thing about paddling in a canoe against the currents and winds is you can either give-up, giving in fully to its will  and be taken “off course” or you can feel the rhythm of the waves and use this to get you through.   It’s a balance that we each need to navigate and different times.  Sometimes its ok to give in and be taken by the current and other times it is not the wisest choice for you in that moment.  Either way you will get somewhere. Either way gives you an experience.  It’s a matter of which experiences you are ready for.