The Mary Badass

I found myself thinking about change as I walked along the ever-changing Florida Trail. I’ve walked through a variety of ecosystems including cypress swamps, titi swamps, palm forests, dry sandy pine forests and prairies. When I started the Florida Trail in January, even though it didn’t feel like winter to me, it WAS the heart…

As I’ve been hiking the Florida Trail with a broken foot, I’ve been thinking a lot about protection. At first I needed to protect my foot in an orthopedic boot and use crutches. After about 400 miles of wearing the orthopedic boot, it seemed any benefit I it was giving was no longer worth the…

Thinking about gift economies got me remembering how I struggled with feelings of scarcity for much of my life. Years ago I learned these feelings came from childhood experiences, and I worked to repair them. Unfortunately, they came flooding back with a vengeance when my husband walked out leaving seven dollars in our bank account.…

It might seem strange, but hiking the Florida Trail with a broken foot has led me to think about capitalism versus gift economies. Traditional capitalism relies on scarcity. If something is scarce it has value and people will pay to buy it. As a result, it benefits some people to hoard resources or even to…

I talked last time about identity and crutches, mentioning I didn’t want to identify with my crutches as a way to feel more unique or important. On one of my first days hiking without the crutches, it seemed the universe was going to help me make the transition. As I was walking down the trail…

450 miles of hiking with crutches means there’s bound to be more than one blog written about them! So bear with me as I expound on more of my thoughts on crutches. I believe all the crutches I’ve used in my life have helped me in someway. But using them came with a price. Some…

I’ve walked over 400 miles of the Florida Trail using crutches, so it’s no wonder I’ve been thinking about the different types of crutches I’ve used to get through life. In early childhood I used dissociation and created alternate parts to deal with abusive situations the rest of me couldn’t handle. I also erected walls…