By the time you read this post, I will be halfway across the world. As I write this, it sure doesn’t feel like the ideal time to be traveling, but I hope that Future Pam is able to hit the pause button on stress and anxiety, and be present for the once in a lifetime opportunity I’ve been given to go trekking in Nepal.
Back in my actor life, I had a song in my audition repertoire called “I Miss the Mountains”, from the musical Next to Normal. It was sung from the perspective of a character struggling with bipolar disorder, grieving the days before medication and therapy dulled her sharp edges and wild mood swings, when her life was full of turbulent drama and excitement. While it’s not my personal experience, I can certainly relate to feelings of wanting to return to a time when my life was a little less predictable or routine, and a little more free, when there was a new adventure lurking around every corner.
One thing I’ve appreciated about training for this hiking trip, has been having a goal, and trying a bunch of different activities and ways of working out to get strong, to build stamina, and to stay flexible. It’s a lot different doing this work now than it was even 15 years ago. It’s much harder. Not a joke! But in a way, the ups and downs, dealing with injuries and disappointment, have rekindled that connection to life’s peaks and valleys, even before I’ve embarked on the physical trek.
If you’re at all like me, you crave a little challenge in your day-to-day, you like to mix it up, you want to feel different things because the lows help you appreciate the highs, and the good days give you perspective to face the ones that aren’t all sunshine and roses. I’m no longer going to be teaching on Saturdays, and it’s a bit scary for me to make that change–I love my Saturday classes and I feel great affection for the clients who’ve joined me over the years. But nothing good, or at least nothing NEW, comes from staying in one place forever. I have immense gratitude to the people who make my job–and my life–worthwhile, and I can’t wait to share the stories of this particular adventure with you when I’m back.
Pam Ferguson
Retrofit Master Instructor
Lead Instructor/Operations Associate