Adventure And Being A Whole Ass Person

I lived this weekend, wasn't online much, but had a ton of fun. As I write this, I am even enjoying some writing whiskey. We had a father daughter date of sorts this weekend. My partner Shelby brought the parental unit out exploring with the tiny human and I this weekend.

We hit up Little Moab, Elberta, Eureka, Mammoth and Silver City this weekend. Of course, we hit up Slant Line along the way and enjoyed a drive through the train tunnel. The snow pack was not so bad in some places and way too deep in others. But it was a beautiful scenic journey.

If you look hard enough, you can see the 95 Jeep Grand Cherokee in that picture. While old and pushing 220k, it still makes an excellent adventure vehicle. It even ate a few epic mud puddles this weekend, much to the joy of the tiny human. It was so peaceful being out of the city and into the wilderness. I am truly falling in love with getting out of the house and exploring again.

Utah offers so much open land full of history to explore. I am finally doing what little Bishop dreamed of and exploring the ghost towns of the old west. We have been watching tons of videos, reading and talking to the locals of Eureka. I feel a deep connection with that area, and every trip leads to something new. I hope to some day make an extensive and well-informed post on the area with a collection of pictures from these adventures.

I love having an adventure partner that is just as excited as I am for these outings. It has been a long road to get to this point, and I am happy to say it was worth all the detours, lonely nights and self work.

One thing we constantly mention to each other is how happy we are with our level of communication. Healthy communication is something we both sought out but seemingly never really had before. Knowing that I can openly approach my partner and talk about anything that needs to be said is what I would call a blessing. We don't have to hide anything from each other. There is no keeping things in, so we don't rock the boat. No soul crushing lingering questions that either of us are too scared to ask.

I know for me, this took a lot of work to get to this point. Self-love played a huge role in this transformation. I used to keep things in for fear of upsetting past partners. Or simply got used to my feelings or emotions I needed to express being disregarded. I can not and will not say that I am free from having past shortcomings in this area. But I have put in the work to get to this point that I am at now. I think this is something we could all benefit from pondering. If you are in a relationship or single, how do you want to be able to communicate with your partner? Are you able to reciprocate the level of communication you desire? Can you seek to clarify any misunderstandings before you become reactive? If not, what do you need to work on to be able to obtain these goals? Most of us desire a partner that appreciates us and considers us. But it is a two-way street. We need to be able to reciprocate those same actions we seek. As much of a broken record as I will sound like, the reminder is worth giving. To get in a relationship to avoid or demons, shortcomings or inability to self-love is to play with another human's emotions.

It took me a long time to realize that it is possible to work on one's self while in a relationship. But that is not to discount the value of being alone for a while. I have zero regrets on swearing off relationships for a year. It gave me the freedom to explore life on my terms and helped me rediscover parts of me that I had lost along the journey of life. Being able to take care of yourself is a valuable skill, and to place personal happiness and the ability to be entertained solely on a partner or relationship is unfair. Some things we must be able to do alone, it is simply healthy. What I am trying to say here is be a whole ass person. Have likes, dislikes and an open mind to learn new things and seek out new experiences. You can do it one step at a time. With that I thank you for taking time to read this post. I am going to finish this whiskey and head for bed soon. Bishop :(: