Date: 2017-03-12
To: 10 Years Ago Today....
Miles today: 0.0

I'm not sure I have words for what it feels like when I realize it has been 10 years since this life changing journey began on Springer Mountain. Truly, I would not have the amazing and fulfilling life I have today had I not decided all those years ago to "do something crazy and hike the AT." So what's up in Certain's life? Huge things, and I seriously give credit to where I have "landed" to the transformative powers of the Appalachian Trail. CENTER FOR EARTH-BASED HEALING: www.earthbasedhealing.orgI started a non-profit, the Center for Earth-Based Healing, and we got our first grant funding in October 2016 that is allowing us to expand our programs. I run, with some amazing staff, three day trauma-informed ecotherapy (nature-based) camps for women who identify as survivors of sexual violence/abuse (Camp Mabon in September) and/or domestic violence (Camp Ostara, offered for the first time this June!). Next summer we're adding our third program, Camp Artemis, for older teen girls who have survived interpersonal violence. This is just part of what we're doing! We also have a Facebook page you can Like. Just the name of the non-profit.I'm shameless when it comes to making sure i can keep the doors open, anyone can make a tax deductible contribution and/or make an in-kind donation from our wish list here. Any support would be SO INCREDIBLY appreciated:http://www.earthbasedhealing.org/donate.html If you don't ask, you'll never know!!I need to raise $25,000 by July 1 as part of our federal grant agreement. Just like the AT...I don't 100% know how this is going to happen, but I am GOING to make this happen!TRAIL DAMES: www.traildames.comThis picture is from yesterday 3/11/17. I created the Central Virginia Chapter of Trail Dames (a hiking group for curvy women (and all other women too!) 5 years ago. I'm training someone to take over for me, but I was out with this great group yesterday leading them on a nice 3 miles hike. Trail Dames has chapters all over so women, check it out: www.traildames.com or consider starting your own chapter! MUSIC: http://we2empower.com/creative-confessions.htmlWhen I started the AT, I was about 1/2 through a 15 year period where I did not play music of any kind. I had been a musician my entire life but got burned out after the Marine Corps, so walked away from it in 2000. In 2014 a pair of Great Horned Owls became my teachers and brought music back into my life. I've been composing again, have taught myself the Ukulele and have even embraced my singing voice. You can listen to some of my music on my website, link at the top of this paragraph. KEYNOTE SPEECH ABOUT HOW THE A.T. CHANGED MY LIFE http://we2empower.com/transformational-talks.html And one last thing. I was the keynote speaker at the 2016 Trail Dames Summit, the nation's only hiking and backpacking conference for women. My talk was about how my hike transformed my life and you can watch it on my small business' (We2: Women's Experiential Empowerment) website at the link above. You'll hear that I now have a book agent and one round of proposals went around and the publishers loved what I had to say but I'm "unknown" so nobody wanted to take a chance on me. We're going to try again and I actually speak with her tomorrow in fact, so WHEN my book about this life-changing hike gets published, I'll surely announce here too. I could go on (as you all know), but I'll just leave it at this. A day doesn't go by that I don't think about the A.T. It truly changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. The gratitude I feel can't be measured. Thanks for reading everyone. ~Certain