The dots connect back here

Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho

I just returned from my 55th (give or take) voyage down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

 Standing at the put-in, I realized it was almost exactly ten years ago that I joined my first Middle Fork trip as a guest. At the time, I had no idea how much that experience would shape my life.

I returned a couple months later to start training as a guide. My journal writing from that time boasted so much uncertainty, and still I wrote, "I've never felt so much at home." 

At the time, I worried that guiding would pull me away from my art practice. I saw them as two separate paths competing for my time and energy. What actually happened was the opposite.

Working on the river sharpened my creative perspective, kept my inspiration bank full, and connected me with people and organizations doing work I deeply believe in. 

Over the years, those experiences have led to artwork collaborations with organizations like American Whitewater, American Rivers, the Grand Canyon Trust, the Redside Foundation, and NRS, to name a few.

Lately, that connection has shown up in another way through creating meaningful tattoos for people who share a deep love of wild places and time spent outdoors. Creating artwork that helps people carry those experiences with them feels especially rewarding.

I'm proud of how far I've come. I went from being a complete river newb to privately boating my own artfully decorated raft setup, something that took years to piece together. Along the way, I also met my partner Aaron, and getting to share these places with him has made the experience richer than I ever could have imagined.

In a commencement speech, Steve Jobs said: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards."

 I’ve felt uncertain, to say the least, about the path ahead recently. But when I connect the dots from the last ten years, I’m reminded that following that feeling of belonging I experienced on the river a decade ago led to a much bigger picture that introduced me to places, people, opportunities, and creative work I never could have predicted.

The proof is in the pudding. and it. is. tasty.