Back in the Alps!
I never thought I’d find myself back in Switzerland just a year after thru-hiking the Swiss Via Alpina. This time, I wasn’t there to try for a Fastest Known Time or go on a big long hike, but to take part in a collaborative project with a team of twelve outstanding, creative individuals that I’m very excited to share more about as it comes to fruition.
The week wasn’t unlike a supported FKT in terms of working together with a group, spending consecutive days with nearly every waking moment dedicated toward our collective goal. Everyone had a role, everyone brought their “A game”.
I don’t think I could have felt more in my element. Aside from spending every day mostly outside, surrounded by craggy mountains and glacial blue lakes, plus being on my feet and moving, there was the element of being creative, of making something.
Being an athlete and musician has always been a bit of a balancing act. Lean too much one way, and the other way suffers. This week felt like a perfect blend of those worlds, like all of me was lighting up, not just one part of me. Sort of like when tuning an instrument, this week wasn’t too flat or too sharp, it was pitch-perfect.
With summer winding down and my third and final year of grad school quickly approaching, before this project I had a bit of a case of the September Scaries. I don’t feel ready to hunker down and burrow for the winter yet. This week was a neat reminder that life doesn’t have to be one thing or the other. Intersectionality does exist, and the more I can continue finding ways to blend these two worlds of physicality/outdoors and artistry, the closer I will be to a fulfilling life path. If we’re looking at a Venn diagram, the goal is to continue widening the part that overlaps. I think rather than feel like I’m going back to being part of a system in terms of academia, here’s an opportunity to hone all of the experiences and input from this summer and let that inform my creative work in performing and composing.
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In other news, my first two daily vlogs from Kungsleden in Sweden are live on my YouTube channel. It’s been really fun to go through the footage and relive the journey.
‘Til next week!