I’ve spent the past year detoxing from arsenic poisoning (and a related heavy metals issue) which is something my body has been burdened with for at least the past six years that I’ve been drinking well water. I had to kind of drop out of the world at large to deal with it, shrink my energy expenditure patterns down in order to save myself. It’s taken great effort and dedication to clean myself up on a cellular level and I’m beginning to feel well.  I don’t really remember the last time in my life I felt truly well.  I’m an energetic person and after unknowingly bearing this poisonous burden for years I thought how I felt was normal, but no.  Not normal.  Not normal energy levels for me.  I actually cannot believe I’ve been able to work as hard as I’ve been working! I currently have sustainable, high energy that lasts all day long.  Steady, pure, vigorous energy. I still have more work to do but I feel good. I could talk more about this but I don’t really want to. I’m also not an expert or a doctor, please talk to your doctor about this stuff and get your well water tested if you are on a well. What I want to tell you about is what I’ve been thinking about lately.

You and I have to live inside these bodies, minds and spirits of ours — let us take great care so that our bodies, minds and spirits don’t become prisons that trap us in darkness, suffering and pain.

There are plenty of things in life that happen to me, things that are outside of my control, but there are some things in my life that I can control, utterly and completely.  I try to take control where I can, when I can, by making good choices and wise decisions so that when the out-of-control-stuff happens to me I can bear up under the weight of it with a little more physical strength and clarity of mind and a spirit that is joyful and long-suffering.

I’m just thinking aloud this morning and feeling grateful for this little body of mine as it moves deeper into recovery and healing. How amazing is that? We can heal! We can be restored. Amen! 

I was out riding a horse last night on the canyon rim, feeling profoundly wind-battered and content, and I found myself thinking about how miraculous it is that humans figured out a way to do this — to sit astride a horse and gallop beneath the sky. What was that like for the first human who ever tried it 5500 years ago? Elation, I’m sure. Nothing makes me feel closer to the earth and nearer to the sky than riding my horses. Horses are portals to deeper living. I’m not inventing the wheel here, I’m not even reinventing it…but I think I am inventing myself with the help of my horses. I’m so grateful humans figured out how to work with horses (and dogs) and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to carry the tradition forward.