B is for Bold: Writing in the Wilderness

(M)ake a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt.

~ Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

Back in January, I began the One Page a Day Challenge and immediately threw away my quill.  Now in April, I’m participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge and prepping for a Wilderness Writers’ Retreat.  I need ink, a stiff drink and therapy.

B

old is not a word that my friends would use to describe me.  

Extroverted and fun loving, yes.  Eager to set people at ease and welcoming, true.  Sometimes a little melancholic.  Definitely.

But to boldly go where. . . stronger men and women have hiked, climbed, fought, and sadly for some, perished?

Who are you and what have done with the Mikaela I knew!?

Bored No More

It is no secret that I am a lover of comfort.  In the past, my idea of roughing it was staying at a Red Roof Inn.  In the middle of nowhere.  In New Jersey.

Long, hot showers are a necessary luxury, and me and my guests always sleep on 600 thread count sheets, surrounded by a bevy of pillows.

So I am the last person most people would connect with a writers’ retreat on a remote island.  With a communal shower.  Heated with a woodstove.  And an out house.  With no heater.  Surrounded by a bevy of bears.

At least I won’t be bored. 

Kodiak Wildlife National Refuge

B is for Bold

Whenever the Muse plays truant, I’ve generally found her hiding in the orchard, peeking at me from behind a majestic maple, or flying with a flock of Canada geese.  Standing at the foot of a mountain range, words pour over me, through me, in me, filling me ~ churning like raging whitewater or a sheer drop waterfall.

Writers block doesn’t stand a chance when I’m surrounded by nature.  Because I love her more than my own comfort.  I love her wildness.  Her grand and extravagant beauty. 

And nowhere is her beauty more bold and alluring then in Alaska.  A magical place I have only visited once, but which has captured my heart and my imagination for eternity.

So when I discovered the Harvester Island Wilderness Workshop on Kodiak Island, I knew that no matter what it took, in six months, that’s where I needed to be.  Seven days on an island that hosts grizzly bears weighing over 700 pounds.   

Where our meals will be fresh caught halibut, and maybe a hare or two.   

Where, I remind you, there is no indoor plumbing.  And not a Red Roof Inn in sight.  Thank God. 

That would be rough.

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Are you bold?  What bold dreams do you have?  What are you doing to reach them?