Five Weeks in the Amazon - #true #story

Chapter 24 - LOST IN RAINBOW COUNTRY

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22

6:12pm swinging in my hammock

I feel like I am living in a new world, a world which I'd only touched the edges of before I got here. My existence is blossoming, and I am creating myself anew each day with more confidence in me. It gives my life more meaning and I believe in this feeling, I believe in this confidence, and I believe this is how I'm meant to feel.

Like I said when I first came here—more than love, more than money, give me truth—and what a wonderful gift the truth has been! The truth that people do care, that friends can love openly, and I am a valuable part of the world.

The confidence and pride I feel about myself is not arrogance. I don't think I'm better than anyone else, I just know that I am a valuable asset to humanity. It is the truth about myself, and nothing more.

I think back to when I first arrived and how much effort it took just to be myself. Every day took an enormous amount of effort to get through, just trying to be ok. I learned to ignore the emotional and physical pain I was in each day. When my adventure began I had numbed myself, and was unsure about my place in life. I remember being uncertain if there was any reason to be alive at all.

Now I am certain life has a purpose, if only my own. I understand myself better, and I see opportunities where I can use my gifts to benefit others. I can help people. I will spread my metaphorical lightness, I will use my humor to draw people towards the example I set.

I will be a positive influence on my friends and a confident leader to anyone wishing to be inspired. I will travel as the wind travels and follow its path without resistance. I now see there is a reason for me to be alive, just as much as there is a reason for you to be alive.

After I had lunch with Joshua and Paris, I decided to leave them to their awkward pseudo-romance and hike to the Rainbow Community. The last time Radolpho was here, he gave me directions and invited me to come visit them. Today seemed like the perfect day.

I walked along the trail to the main road with one headphone in my ear. I was listening to a recording of Otillia's icaros that Kari sent me a week before I left.

The reason I'm only using one headphone is because I learned I need to stay aware of my surroundings. I'm not walking along a sidewalk in the city; I'm walking through the jungle. Yesterday I was reminded of the potential for danger walking back.

***

I was coming back to the property in the evening and felt pretty good. I had successfully made it to town and back, and my headphones were in and the music cranked from the moment I got on the bus.

Hopping and skipping along the jungle trail while listening to my music, I had no doubt I was making good time. I had a small bag on my back and I was wearing my skate shoes, boardshorts and a thin T-shirt.

I was mid-hop from a small stump when out of the corner of my eye I saw a snake. It was sitting exactly where I, in mid-air, had planned to land with my left foot. In the split-second left before I stomped on the snake, who looked as surprised by the immediate threat as I was, I twisted my hips, and spun off-axis towards the right side of my body. My trajectory shifted enough for me to land on my right foot, inches from the snake's head.

Immediately I exploded forward. The snake recoiled into itself, his defense strategy a half-second slower than my retreat. Still spinning to the right, I pushed off and leapt into the air pulling my knees into my chin. I was now facing backwards up the trail.

I saw the snake extending to its full length, its head reaching towards me. There were two tiny fangs sticking out of his head draped by his wrinkled lips that were pulled back. When he was stretched as far as he could, he began to fall towards the earth, but I was still soaring, still spinning through the air. Finishing the perfect 360 degree spin, I landed about 10 feet down the trail. Before I could even think about falling, I was in a top-speed sprint.