How do you know you are alive, really alive, where you feel you are taking advantage of every moment, drinking from the cup and feeling drunk on the experience? How do you deal with the heavy weight of daily life? How do you keep yourself alive amidst all the struggle?

I asked myself these questions when death came to my door taking my mother and my boyfriend from me in a four month time frame. I knew I wasn’t alive in the confines of the safe four walls of my home. I knew I wasn’t living if I didn’t see the glory of the wild, wide, natural spaces of the world. How could I settle for ordinary when there was wind in my hair begging me to explore?

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon was one of the places I settled into feeling alive on the edge of that great expanse. The electricity in the air from the monsoon, the cool air rising from the deep canyon, the gorgeous, ethereal light set my soul alight. I flew in my heart over the expanse feeling like I had answered all those questions and I could really say I was alive with life and light.