Sign Posts for the Weary Wild Soul

When my family came back from the cabin my new hammock was awaiting me. My dad and I hung it up in my room on my birthday, August 19th. I must admit the first night was anything but cozy. I didn’t talk to my body to prepare it for the change and I experienced a sort of resistance within myself. I definitely wanted my bed. But now it’s been one week and I’m starting to adjust. In a Mayan hammock if you lie diagonally your back is completely straight, so I’ve started sleeping that way. What I like about it is that a hammock can serve as both a bed and a very comfortable chair to read in or even do homework if I use a firm pillow as a desk. And of course, the floor space during the day is amazing. Hammocks are also better to stretch in than a bed for two reasons. The first is that typically with a bed your head is near a wall so it’s difficult to fully stretch your arms over head, not so with a hammock. The second is that a bed is a flat, soft surface. A hammock molds to where ever you move your body but maintains the support and tension like a tempurpedic bed would.  This means you can move your spine and hips any which way and get to stretch them aaaalll the way out.

So if you have a small room like I do, maybe consider getting a hammock instead of a bed. It rocks!

In other news school started! More on that later I’m sure…

love and blessings,
Katie

This summer sure has gone by fast! I kept thinking of things to write about but stopping my own creative flow, feeling that nothing was quite “prolific” enough or that I didn’t have the time. However, I’m reading Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

right now it has prompted me to get back in touch wit

h my own “wild woman” creativity and get writing! So here I am!

A brief update on past threads of thought…

I went on the cruise and though cruising is not my vacation style of choice I certainly enjoyed myself. As many of you may know, I enjoy food and as such the food on the cruise was one of the highlights for me. One of the things I noticed on the ship was how

people would go around saying, “I haven’t been to t

he gym yet today!” as if they had to go. I just thought it was funny that people were so hyper-aware of their physical fitness at a time when they should be allowing themselves to relax with the family and friends who are on board with them.

The highlight was definitely taking the helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier and hiking around up there. It was absolutely incredible. I also got to go zip-lining and see the famous Butchart Gardens. I took a TON of pictures.

And now for the intended subject of this post…

So I have decided to get rid of my bed and replace it with a hammock. This came about via a trip to my cousin’s, who happens to have a hammock (not for a bed, but in his back yard). Brian, my cousin, told me that a lot of people around the world sleep in

hammocks every night. Hammocks keep your body up off the ground safe from snakes and safer from other creepy crawlies. In hot environments they also allow the part of your body that faces the ground to breath through the meshy material unlike a traditional bed. In El

Salvador and some other Central and South American countries, families will often have hooks on the walls so that when guests come, they can hang additional hammocks and during the day take them down, increasing the amount of free space. THAT is why I want a hammock. My room is pretty small, and though I don’t feel too cramped it would be nice to be able to do yoga in my bedroom. With a hammock for a bed I will be able to do that! I’ll let you all know how this experiment goes. I’m not sure if I’ll want to continue sleeping in a hammock forever, I’m going to wait a few months before I sell my bed frame. Below is a photo of the hammock I ordered.

Other than that I hope everyone is enjoying the rest of their summer! I’m going to try to start writing more regularly…

Love and blessings,
Katie