My Great Escape

This weekend, my best friend is coming into town to ski...and it seems like I always say it when she comes, but she couldn't have come at a better time.


I'm ready to get away. I'm ready to de-stress. I'm really to feel everything and nothing all at once.


My therapist has encouraged the idea of a "safe place." It sounds SO cheesy, but the idea is that when you get stressed or overwhelmed, you can already pick out a place or action that you enjoy doing to help your mind take a break.


I tried to think of meadows. I even tried thinking of mountains. But the place that I feel most free and safe is the slopes.

I was born in Colorado and I learned to ski at a young age. While I've never been a contender for the Olympics, I'm a relatively good skiier. And other than a few times when I was too cold, I have a great time.


There's nothing like the feeling that I get when I ski. I push off and let gravity and my legs do their thing. It's a few minutes of peace - where I feel like I can get away from whatever it is that I want to.

I feel empowered, excited, athletic, and alive.

Pair that with a bottle of wine to share in the evenings, the opportunity to talk about whatever I want while getting thoughtful and non-judgemental feedback? Well, it's divine.

I mean, Joe's great. But he's not Kelly. He's not someone that has shown me time and time again that she loves me as unconditionally as any person can. We don't have the history. I don't have to explain myself or apologize with Kelly. I just am me. And she is who she is.

So this weekend is all about my best friend and me.

I plan to forget about the house I'm selling, the house that I'll eventually buy (which I have yet to find), and my job.

I know that when I drop her off at the airport on Monday evening, I'll undoubtedly feel a sense of loss. I wish that she and I lived closer so that we could see each other more than twice a year. But I'll also feel a calm that I rarely feel at other times during the year.

This weekend I'm escaping into a much needed place of comfort.

I can hardly wait.