I just re-connected with one of my best friends from my childhood. We grew up in Palo Alto, California before Silicon Valley came upon the scene.
If you have ever been to the Bay Area, you know the geographic beauty that we enjoy here. It is a beautiful place with an amazingly vibrant and diverse culture. Growing up here was a treasure in itself.
I remember days of riding my ten-speed in the hills that rise up between Palo Alto and the coastline. I remember growing up with people who were intelligent and thoughtful about the world we live in.
Just yesterday, this best friend sent me a picture. She has been scanning old pictures and came across this one. 
I am on the left. Just seeing this image brought back a flood of feelings and memories of a time in my life when I felt so connected to the world around me, especially nature through all the time I spent outdoors.
As I thought back to this time, I realized how important these years are. It’s during these times that we have a glimpse into our deeper nature and a sense of our place in the world. Once we grow up and move out into the world, and into making a living, most of us lose contact with our own internal knowing, because we believe we have to conform to our culture and society to make it. And, we believe that conformity requires letting go of who we really are and what we truly want to do with our lives.
It’s not that we consciously choose to go against our authenticity, but rather we are conditioned to do so.
Seeing this picture and remembering that time in my life, with all the friends and experiences it held, re-affirmed who I am and what compels me to action today in my life. I know that my work with women to awaken our connection to the Earth and our connection to each other is exactly what I knew somewhere deep within me when this picture was taken.
Think back to your youth, those years when you wondered what your life would hold.
What did you envision?
Who did you see yourself to be?
Are you honoring that deepest place within you, that place that speaks to you quietly, but insistently?
