New Mexico... the land of community

About 2ish weeks ago I went to New Mexico!! It was beautiful and eye opening. I went down for work, the SCA paid for the 9 of us NPS apprentices to go see each other one last time, and we covered it for work as a "cultural immersion" trip. Asides from cacti, cedar-junipers, dirt, rocks, dust, mountains, mesas, cliffs, beautiful stars, and warmth, I was also able to see something that most of us in the North East don't get to see much... community.

 Behind the campsite we stayed at (BLM Joe Skeen Campground near the El Mapais conservation land), was this beautiful 20ish foot cliff. It gave a spectacular view of the badlands (el mapais= the badlands) which are actually lava flows... you can't see them in the picture, but they're there.

This campsite was the start of my feelings of being a part of something bigger than myself. Almost every night we would all help make dinner and clean up, all while talking and laughing.

Every morning we'd repeat this. Everyone would make sure that their friends were prepared for the day.

This is the view that I came to on our mountain biking trip. I enjoyed the trip, even though I got altitude sickness and I was last in the group the whole time. 

But being last was nice... I was alone, able to do some thinking and some reflecting.

The day before our mountain biking we went to Acoma Pueblo for their Saint Esteban feast day. We witnessed their harvest dances and rituals. We were invited into peoples houses we didn't even know, to share in food and good stories.

It was something that I've never experienced before. This sense of community, of safety, of care... we seem to lack it here in the Northeast.

I'm not sure if it's because we seem to lack a religious culture or even just a culture itself. But it was something that I loved.

I can only compare it to my family gatherings that we used to have. Where every month we'd meet at my grandfather's house and celebrate the birthdays of that month.

But here, on this beautiful land, (this is sunrise on another part of Acoma's reservation... at a place where not many of the non-Acoma's view), I felt completely different. I felt a sense of love.  A sense of the necessity of being there for each other. A necessity of leaning on one another.

It brought me to start thinking about what we would have to change here in the Northeast in order to feel that feeling.

We'd have to change a lot of things.

But somehow, I don't feel overwhelmed by trying to change everything. I've learned that you can't do these types of things by yourself.

Every small step that each of us take towards a good thing, adds up. It combines into a large pool of good things. That's when things start to change.

When we all take that step... that's when we'll see change.





By the way, please do not use my pictures without permission. You can email me here on blogger, or just post a comment with your email and I'll give you written permission on there. They're not copyrighted... I'd just like some credit!