Follow Your Bliss ... In The Arctic

 Last week, I got together with a dear old friend to 

catch up on our lives.Wendy was my company's 

corporate accountant and as life goes, we became

good friends.  Several years ago, Wendy went with 

me to Paris and Provence and during the trip, 

she kept repeating a mantra ..

"When I return from this trip, my life is 

going to be different."

And it was.  

Wendy's sons had left the nest, and she eventually

 left her private practice and became 

the CFO of a large nonprofit organization.

The transformation had begun.

She started with baby steps.  I had mentioned to her 

that to find out what you wanted in life, 

she had to be willing to take a few risks.

Go to a movie by yourself, have dinner or lunch 

in a nice restaurant alone and then take a trip 

on your own.  It doesn't have to be a large journey. 

 I went alone to northern Quebec on a tour to 

see the whales and that was my opening 

the door to adventure. 

 I headed to Paris on my own.

 In March, Wendy went to Inuvik, which is in the 

northwest corner of the Northwest Territories 

in Canada.  Very remote.  There are about 3500

people in this small town made up of Innuit, 

First Nations and non-native peoples.  March is 

considered "spring" in this land but the 

temperatures are nothing like our spring.  

Temperatures range from -20 to -30 degrees C before windchill.  
The sun stays up until 10:00 P.M. 

as opposed to 23 hours in August.

Wendy decided to take a little outing on a dogsled 

after an hour instruction.  She was frightened 

initially of going too fast but after a short while, 

she let the dogs have the lead and imagined

she was skiing.  The dogs loved running but 

when they stopped, the two lead dogs got 

into a fight and the guide had to throw herself 

between the dogs.  Such excitement.

 One of the ladies in the group took a sharp 

corner  and landed in the snow drift. 

Sometimes this happens when you take a risk.

They don't always entail smooth running.

The success is the ability and confidence

it takes to get back up and continue on.

Wendy loves to photograph her adventures and 

we both loved her photo of a gathering of two 

good friends in Inuvik.  This is exactly how Wendy 

and I looked as we were catching up with

each other's lives.  It's a beautiful moment 

of good women friends everywhere in the world.

What are Wendy's next adventures on her bucket list?

She plans to go back to this area in December so that

she can see the Northern Lights.  She is also in training

for a hiking trip in Europe in the not so distant future.

Wendy had some wonderful wisdom to share with us.

"What I learned is that happiness is an inside-out thing.  

You have to find it inside yourself and then 

the outside things will be brighter and happier.  

You see things you didn't see

before and you see everything differently, but

you have to remember to look."

What's on your bucket list? 

It doesn't have to be an Arctic adventure.

It could be taking a course in photography,

a tap dancing lesson or a night at the opera.