Following the nudge.

Hi Friends,

Last week I camped for five nights in the Black Hills of South Dakota, one of my favorite places on the planet. It so happened the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a yearly gathering of around 500,000 bikers in the Black Hills, was also taking place. This was the second time in three years I roadtripped to the Black Hills during the Sturgis rally, having no idea it was happening either time. It became evident fairly quickly: after the fifth group of bikers whizzed by, my mind went from wow, there are a lot of bikers on the road to holy shit Sturgis must be this week. I was excited. I like seeing all the bikes and bikers.

I’m not exactly the biker archetype. I did own a Vespa in LA for a couple years nearly twenty years ago, but a Vespa doth not a biker make. Sturgis is for Harleys, not scooters. Prior to last week I’d never been on a proper motorcycle. As is evident by the pic above, that all changed. I met Shawn, a cowboy biker from Kansas. Look at that badass mustache! We were chatting about the Black Hills and motorcycles and life, and I felt a strong desire to ask him if he’d take me on a ride. I almost ignored the impulse, in order not to be a burden, but I ended up asking him. He practically squealed, absolutely, I’d love to! The next day, which was as sunshiney beautiful as can be, I spent three hours on the back of his bike cruising through those gorgeous hills, past herds of buffalo, and rock formations that hardly seem possible, and through mountain tunnels that were little more than eight feet wide. I was in some version of heaven. Seriously blissed out.

For several days prior and through my time in the Black Hills, I slept in my Roofnest, the tent atop the roof of my car. It comes with a telescopic ladder that hooks into the bottom of the tent and allows me to climb up and into this perfect little cocoon, my home, giving me a treehouse view of the forest around me. The pic above is from my campsite in western Michigan, in the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness, where I spent a couple nights before heading west. I need to be in Northern California by August 17th for a retreat I’m giving at Canyon Ranch in Woodside. It would have been easier to fly to California from Detroit, where I’d been for the past couple months, but my gut told me I needed to get into nature, stat, and my schedule could accommodate it, so I hit the road. My God have the trees and mountains and lakes helped to rebalance me. I feel quieter inside than I’ve felt in a while. I like the feeling of quiet inside.

The pic above is my view as I write this from the guest room at my friend Robert’s house in Carbondale, Colorado. I became aware of Robert’s work through social media a couple years back and felt a nudge to reach out to him to let him know I appreciate how he’s showing up in the world. We’ve been Instagram friends since then. As I began my roadtrip across the country, something I’ve done many times throughout my life, Robert popped into my mind (gut), so I DM’d him to see if he’d want to hang out if I found myself in Colorado. He invited me to stay with him, and here I am. We’re having a great time deepening our friendship, flanked by his two adorable cats and rambunctious, cute-as-can-be six month old chocolate lab.

I’m sharing all this with you to give you a taste of my last ten days, which have been wonderful for sure, and also to remind you, and myself, that there’s often great benefit in listening to our internal nudges, those intuitive whispers (sometimes screams), that inner knowing pushing us to do something we hadn’t yet considered. The motorcycle ride, the road trip, this budding friendship with Robert, all came from a willingness to say yes to my gut’s suggestions, a willingness to trust that these intuitive nudges will lead me where I need to be, and then to act on them and let the journeys they create unfold.

And perhaps you’re not into jumping on the back of a motorcycle or sleeping on the roof of your car, but what about that nudge to call a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while, or to turn right when you would normally have turned left, or to buy that shirt that is so not your style, or to give notice at your job and trust you’ll find a more fulfilling one, or to ask that barista out for lunch, or to sign up for the Zumba class, or to learn to play the saxophone, or or or…

We are influenced by so much more than just our minds. When we allow ourselves to be. Maybe it’s time to pay more attention to the information coming from our intuitive impulses rather than depending solely on our mental ones. Maybe it’s time to start saying yes to those things our guts are nudging and imploring us to say yes to.

Maybe.

Wishing you all so much love!
Scott

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Please consider pre-ordering my upcoming book, Enough as You Are. Thank you!

There is still time to join me and David Gandelman at our Live Your Truth retreat in Spain from August 31st - September 6th. As in a couple weeks away! Are you feeling the nudge? Now’s the time to make it happen.