The Life and Times of the Plume

We took a day off (WHAT???!!!) from springtime farm expansion, soil prep, infrastructure building and studio work and we hauled the horses to the dune for the day. It was beautiful, restful, peaceful, joyful. Just my little family and I, Tater Tot, sweaty saddle pads, and a thousand jackrabbits in sand so deep and so fine I thought I could hear every grain whispering a geological history as it slid out from beneath fast hooves.

This is the largest, single, freestanding sand dune in the USA and one side of it is flanked by a small lake. The juxtaposition of sky, sand dune, and water is rather otherworldly. It feels impossible. The elements are at full strength out there — fire, wind, water, earth, blowing and heaving and burning and cool blue to the eyes. It’s hard going for the horses in all that deep sand so they get a great workout using their muscle groups in a different way than usual. As we move in and out of smaller dunes it’s fun to watch the desert wildlife flicker, tweet, run and fly — and to feel like we are fleet and swooping on the backs of birds of prey instead of horses. The warmth of day radiates up out of the sand and our faces always feel sunburnt no matter how much sunscreen we apply just from the dryness and the reflection of hard light off pale sands. I feel such aliveness in my cells after a day of riding there and tiredness, too, which is a delicious feeling if it stems from being outside all day.

Yesterday was absolute joy and something I want to tell you today is this: Never apologize for your joy. Your joy makes the world a better place. People will try to police your joy, they will tell you there is virtuous unity in shared misery, that you can’t be joyful unless everyone else is joyful, too. No. There are few things more destructive than miserable people spreading misery. Discover your joy, express your joy, share your joy. Do not feel guilty for your joy. At the heart of joy is peace, humor, delight, gratitude. If you have joy, it brings light to your suffering, it makes your burdens bearable. Joy is contagious. Choose joy.