Traveling the Trinity

That Thursday marked the ending of one of the most stressful and emotional weeks of the semester so far. Right before the trip began I received hurtful news that did not put me in a good state of mind for a trip that I had previously been very excited for. I was running on too little sleep and too many emotions to appreciate the beginning of the 4.5 mile canoe trek. However, being stuck in a canoe with your best friend for a few hours can be surprisingly therapeutic to the soul. It was something that I never expected, but the canoe trip surprisingly helped to calm my mind and gave me time to relax for the first time in too long. At first I had been upset that the trip started off so rough for me, but then I became very thankful that it had coincided with certain life events. Floating along the Trinity River gave me time to appreciate the "little things" in life, as cliche as that sounds. The whole week I had been a ball of stress, worrying about both big and little things, and the canoeing allowed me to forget about it all for just a few hours. Together Casey and I figured out how to steer that canoe (it took awhile!) and that helped to distract me from the list of emotional things running through my mind. We laughed (at ourselves), complained (about too much to list), and ultimately made it down the river like a modern day Huck and Jim. 

 

Halfway down the river I was already feeling better, yet none of my problems had been solved. They were still waiting for me back on land, but for those few hours all life issues were out of reach as we canoed in our own little world. I am a very logical and pragmatic person, someone who never would have thought that canoeing down a brown river would help me feel better after a long week, but it did. The journey calmed my previous anxiety and I believe helped me handle a stressful situation that was waiting for me back ashore. The serenity of the calm waters and the recurring motions of paddling was more therapeutic than I ever could have imagined. The entire setting was so tranquil and peaceful that even my racing mind could be calmed down for a few hours.

Paddling up to that Fort Worth skyline at the end of the trip was a beautiful ending to a surprisingly valuable trip that ended up being exactly what I needed. The bright lights represented the real world where my problems sat waiting for me to deal with, but the canoe and river aided me in approaching them more wisely and calmly. Sure, when I got back to campus I still had to deal with my stressful problems, but the river trip had helped me to accept what had happened and had calmed my mind so that the problems seemed just a little bit more manageable.