Sedonalicious

Ahh, Sedona. Where New Age meets Naturalist. Where geologist meets Reiki Master. Where Native American tradition weaves with modern culture. Where metaphysical conversation is the norm. What is it about the place?

Maybe it was my high school fascination with Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged that draws me here. Maybe it's the azure sky against the red rock moutains and the way the light plays on both. Or maybe it's that I just feel a unique blend of creativity, peace and balance in Sedona. It just feels really good.

In fact when you chat with people in Sedona that's what you find. They came there on vacation and they felt so good they never left. That's a fairly common response.

That's the case with our mountain guide, Kurt.



Kurt visited Sedona from Wisconsin 13 years ago and stayed. He knows the land and he knows people. We learned about the indigenous tribes from Kurt as he hiked us to the top of a mesa behind Big Thunder Mountain (yeah, just like Disneyland but better) and lead us in a meditation, followed by a Hopi ceremony. Here we are basking in the glow of our mesa-top sage bath. He explained this is where you take in the “big picture” of life, like the eagle flying high above who sees below. Kurt is a great storyteller and told us about the various tribes that believe this canyon is the beginning of all creation.



We spent my birthday with Kurt and his partner, Mariposa, a Reiki Master and all-around energy guru. Kurt took us to several gorgeous spots and taught us about the medicine wheel while Mariposa made sure all chakras were in good working order.

Each time we visit Sedona it is different. We usually stay at Enchantment in Boynton Canyon and never want to leave. This time we stayed on the creek at the Creekside Inn B&B and were mad explorers. We hit the wineries (Javelina, Oak Creek and Page Springs.) Wineries in Arizona? A little weird and no competition for California, but we did enjoy Page Springs, the subject of a new limited release film called "From Blood to Wine." Sadly, it didn't make the top 10 at the Sedona Film Festival so not sure how far that will go.

We visited the art galleries in Tlaquepaque, drove along Oak Creek where snow was still on the ground, visited the Holy Cross Church built into the cliffs, found some new shops we liked and hiked the cliff dwellings of Montezuma Well. There an underground lake was once covered with rock. The Synagua people built their homes in the cliffs and laddered down to get in? Here is one of their homes.



Our favorite restaurants? We were right across the street from Shugrues in the Hillside Galleries and highly recommend the clam chowder, but Yavapai at Enchantment is our favorite! Their food is art.



One of my favorite things was just sitting down by the creek with our new locally made Navajo blanket wrapped around us and watching the creek flow. I could do that for hours. It seems to me that's how we should live--in the flow. When we start to feel like we are salmon swimming upstream, we need to re-evaluate our choices. In contrast, when we are moving in conjunction with our life purpose, the journey is clear, directed, sometimes shallow and sometimes deep, but directed and synchronistic.



Here's to happy flowing! Namaste.