Growing up my community was with the other believers of the religion I practiced. Due to religious beliefs I never was able to participate in any sport or attend any high school games, I never went to prom, I never got to have relationships outside of school with those friends from school and sadly I never got to have real life experiences with the community of the town I lived in. I was trapped in this bubble of the same people doing the same things. I can't say anything bad about this community of christians for it was all I knew. Then in May 2012 I moved to Rifle, Colorado and started a job at Whitewater Rafting LLC working in the office and as a photographer. Starting out I was a shy, reserved young girl who at the end of the day, left out the side door of the building, not wanting to have to walk past those raft guides drinking beer, and debriefing about their day on the river, completely avoiding personal interactions with the other employees. I never was taught how to do so, for most of my interactions were with those people that came from the same walk of life. It was a very intimidating place to be exposed to, as my entire life had been fairly sheltered up to now. But it didn't take long and I started to hangout after work, engrossed in the stories from the river that day, dreading having to leave for these raft guides were so full of life, adventure and genuinely wanted to know about my life and WHO I was.
Office fun run! Our amazing boss Phoebe always encouraged us office gals to get on the river as much as we could and the more I did the more I thought about doing training and becoming a raft guide.
I started to get more and more experience and loved the thrill of whitewater.
When I decided to leave the church my co-workers from whitewater were the ones that got me through. They could see the pain in my eyes as I lost that community I had grew up in, and they hugged me, and supported me, and would tell me "lets get on the river, that will help you feel better" and it did. The river and the canyon became a place of worship for me, a powerful stretch of water that I respected, and it slowed life down just enough to remind me that everything will be ok. Flow with it. They say good people attract good people and I believe that's one reason why Whitewater was (and is) such an amazing company to work for ( eight seasons!). Your coworkers and bosses are genuinely good people. On Tuesdays you find yourself at the park competing with other raft guides from other companies in a game of ultimate frisbee or your a cheerleader (Mr. JC) on the side line, cheering the players on! You raft different stretches of river together, typically big, fast, technical water and you trust each other to get through it, and if you end up upside down, or swimming you know your fellow rafting buddies have your back. Many nights were spent camping, hammocks hung from the aspen trees as your buddies played guitar, and harmonica and flutes of all kinds around the fire, and you go to work the next day smelling like camp smoke.
In 2015 I decided to finally do it, I signed up for the training to become an official raft guide. I will be honest, that was my favorite season at Whitewater. The connections I made all while learning how to read water, and river safety, to who can chug a beer the quickest, and when we were done working for the day, we found ourselves back up at the Shoshone boat ramp, not rigged to flip, pushing off to float some more.
R.I.P Taylor Goodman we miss your adventurous spirit everyday.
And because of this community I've been so lucky to have developed strong, healthy, amazing friendships...
And have been lucky to surround myself with strong, confident, supportive, woman......All of us woman need them in our life!
And to the men of Whitewater, thank you for always letting me tag along and reminding me to stay tough.
Community is so important in our lives for they are the people who help shape the person we are striving to be.
Pictured above a few friends and myself are with Erik Weihenmayer who was the first blind man to summit Everest and 2nd blind man to kayak the Grand Canyon. Go check out "The Weight of Water" and while your at it go ahead and check out https://nobarriersusa.org. Prepare to be inspired and have a tissue handy.
Cheers to friendship, and love, to support and acceptance, and most importantly to family.
It's been exciting trying to find a new community here in Steamboat Springs CO, and wherever you may find yourself I hope you can find yours as well.
Happy Sunday!
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