Silence speaks louder than words...

The new year had just begun and I began to weed through the vast amount of posts and links on my newsfeed when something worthwhile caught my eye. That something, said FREE.

The Buddha Mind Monastery in Oklahoma City was opening its doors to the public for a weekly meditation class(my responsible Facebook use was coming in handy).

I had no idea that Oklahoma even had a monastery!

On a cold and rainy Thursday evening, I left my countryside home in Guthrie and plugged the coordinates into my g.p.s. navigation system. It led me to Del City, or is it Midwest City, or are the two combined? I don't know. Forty-five minutes later, I had arrived, questioning myself if I could make this trip every week.

The turnout was tremendous(apparently everyone else thrives in a free society as well). I couldn't even find a parking spot! Vehicles were being directed by monastery staff to drive off of the pavement, disregard the perfectly painted parking lines and find a spot in the beautifully maintained winter weeds.

Leaving my shoes at the door, I found a makeshift spot on the temple floor, sat down, crossed my legs and began to observe my surroundings.


They were monks! What was I expecting? I began to realize how little I actually knew about Buddhism and how incredible this way of life was. I had been blinded by my own ignorance.

Learning the practice back in 2011, I had an on-again-off-again relationship with meditation due to my own poor time management. (Side-note: make time for the things that really matter, let go of all the rest and your life will be filled with joy. Stress is a self-induced disease.)

The scent of burning sage filled the air as positive energy abundantly flowed through the temple, into my open heart and out into the souls around me... A piece of Ecuador was here.

I wasn't sure how this Eastern philosophy had ended up in Oklahoma, but it didn't matter. I was simply thankful that it had.

Humbled in absolute silence, I sat surrounded by hundreds of other cross-legged Westerner's, all searching to find balance, to find peace, and to watch and to learn to simply observe the mind.

For the first time in a long time, I felt home.

The never-ending journey...

In May of 2013, I journeyed to Ecuador with a group from The Pachamama Alliance and entered the Amazon Rainforest.

My group, with our indigenous guides and shaman.

For two weeks I stayed with indigenous tribes and communities learning their way of life, their culture, and their spiritual practices, specifically shamanism.

While there, I had never felt such a sense of oneness and wholeness. My spirit soured high above the endless trees and drifted down the river like water.

Aerial view of the Pastaza River

Within two days, I had formed a family with my fellow travelers. These people knew what I knew and much more. These people accepted me, encouraged me, respected me, and loved me. A deep connection I had never experienced before was formed.

Returning home was culture shock. I had never felt so alone and abandoned.

One of the traditional huts we stayed underneath.

After spending two weeks with no wall between nature and my bed, no sound barrier between the symphony of the night and my pillow, no more of technology’s constant calls distracting me and stealing my senses, I stepped my bare feet onto oil and tobacco stained concrete.

I felt a loss of hope, like a piece of me still lie in the forest. I had left my new home in the rainforest for my old one in Oklahoma, traded my new family who accepted me for my family who begged me not to go.

While my new family and friends returned to their homes in California, they had one another, along with the vast amount of open-minded people of the West Coast.

I had, the Bible Belt of conservatism.

Warrior face-paint gifted from an Achuar guide upon our departure.