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Roots ground us allowing for a sturdy trunk and large canopy to unfold. It’s the roots that permit the tree to flex in a strong wind or under the weight of ice in its branches. Roots connect to the earth and establish our place in this world.
I had my place. I felt rooted in my community and landscape, in the places and people I knew and understood. Then, I chose to uproot. My freshly detangled roots were bunched up in burlap and journeyed to the Nashua Valley to find a new home. At first, I felt like a sturdy trunk and large canopy balancing tenuously on a short network of unattached tendrils. The journey was long and I feared toppling over with the lightest blow.
Now that I am here and setting new roots, it strikes me that perhaps I did not uproot at all. Instead, I remain a tree standing firm in the Golden Triangle of Pittsburgh that has had a full and worthwhile existence. And one of the many seeds that I have fruited was carried northeast and has nestled into the soil on the fertile banks of the Nashua River. A small seed burgeoning into a seedling with roots that feel connected to this new earth.
Trees, in all their various stages of growth, whether evergreen or deciduous, living or dead, make me feel more fully me. Wherever I am I seek trees. I remember a trip to the Big Apple where overwhelmed with the skyscrapers and concrete, I found myself wandering toward ballfields and small parklets, into the green spaces that revive us and listened to the city trees for what sounds were there.
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I recently moved to Pepperell, Massachusetts after my wife was relocated by her work from Pittsburgh, PA to an office in nearby Chelmsford. The move took a while, with her going first to figure out if it was a good match and while I took time transitioning from the nonprofit organization I had been part of for the past 10 years.
I was nervous and excited. Nervous to not know exactly what the future held and where I would eventually land, but excited for the opportunity to explore my interests and to give myself the permission to be okay with not knowing and to just enjoy every day. My wife will attest that my cooking ability quickly improved, as I found more joy in preparing meals. I took long walks in the woods with our dog. I started studying the mushrooms I found in the forest and keyed in on a couple to specifically look for. Time slowed down and in some ways got faster. I would lose myself in the pure enjoyment of being outdoors.
I took courses too to keep up on my professional outdoor certifications, like Wilderness First Responder, but also pushed my skill in kayaking to become a Level 3 Coastal Kayak instructor with the American Canoe Association. I realized that while working in beginner-level outdoor recreation as a career, I didn’t do enough to push my own comfort and skill level in the activities I love. I set out to surpass that plateau and sought the next figurative peak to climb.
One of the decisions that has most impacted my future trajectory has been my interest in coaching. I don’t mean sports or activity coaching, but the broad category that includes life coaching, executive coaching, and transition coaching. I started a professional coaching certificate program and have just been amazed at how much I’ve been learning--fundamental skills that apply to everyday interactions with people. The iPEC coaching program builds on principles that I’ve been studying in other fields from nature awareness and survival courses at the Tom Brown Tracker School to the work that Registered Life Planners do through training from the Kinder Institute of Life Planning. Even a half-day nonviolent self-defense training keyed in on principles that are also learned through coaching.
It centers on your ability to be in the moment. To be present. To manage your stress level and get to a place when you can view the most opportunities. To be open to new perspectives. To seek self-knowledge.
I am here.
I am growing and I am open to the wisdom that surrounds me. Coach Outdoors is the manifestation of my current journey. A business practice built on experience and discovery.
An Outside Perspective.