Smith Rock Spring Thing

The Smith Rock Spring Thing Volunteer Day is the annual fundraiser and project maintenance day for Smith Rock State Park. The park has over 1500 established climbing routes, and boasts a proud 651 acres. There is an educational Welcome Center open a few days a week, and a great staff of rangers and volunteers that keep an eye on the park year round. This year at the Spring Thing there were almost 200 volunteers! Cyber high fives everyone!  Dozens of projects were tackled throughout the park in just a day! Including: rebuilding rock walls, replacing steps, widening trails, building trails and putting in stair risers, just to name a few. 

The event has been going on for over two decades, and this year I had the pleasure of participating and presenting my new project. 

I sweat and played in the dirt building stairs and moving rock with my Voyage of the Cow Dog crew and met some fantastic energetic people who all care about making a difference and giving back to the park. After-which, we all enjoyed some tasty beverages, food, more good company and sunshine. 

Communities like this are what recharge my batteries and give me hope for the world. I have traveled in and out of the Smith Rock community for almost ten years. It was the first place I roped up outside, it has been the birth place of some lifelong friendships, it has fostered growth, helped me heal, made me laugh, curse, cry and scream with joy. Smith Rock is a special place, and it's people are just as special. 

photo credit Ian Caldwell

I cannot wait to spend the rest of the year putting as much intention and energy as I can possibly muster back into this place, and this community that has given me so much. 

With leagues of gratitude,
-Meg

Live Your Dreams!

Speechless excitement was my first response when I found out I had received one of the NW Live Your Dream Grants from the American Alpine Club this year. I had put so much time and intention into these big dreams it just felt so good to be rewarded for the effort. Receiving this grant was the extra boost of reassurance I think I needed to prove to myself that I am headed in the right direction, that this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing, and that these are the dreams I am after.

Here's a quick video I put together explaining my project and a little bit about the Live Your Dream Grant.   

About the #ConnectWithSmithRockProject

My two most prolific passions are climbing and art. I have the big dream to combine the two to promote state and national park awareness, aid in their conservation, and connect more people to their parks and resources. I also want to give back to the parks that have supported and fostered my growth as an artist and a climber.

Specifically I want to give everyone who visits Smith Rock the opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves. Everyone from the dirtbag climber, to the weekend warrior, to the wheelchair-bound person, can share their park story and photos by using the hashtag #ConnectWithSmithRock.

The final piece will be a 4 x 8 triptych mixed-media painting similar to my Traveling Mountains piece, highlighting both the people and the place that define Smith Rock State Park. The final piece will be finished by the end of 2015 and will then be on display in Red Point for several months before it is sold and 100% of the proceeds will then go back to the park.

If you would like to participate in the project, please submit your photos telling your story of our park by using the hashtag #ConnectWithSmithRock on Instagram or publicly on Facebook so I can find your photos. If you prefer, you can also email me your photos at connectwithmeg@gmail.com. 

Live stream from the Instagram hashtag #ConnectWithSmithRock

Hurdles

“It’s really just a small hurdle.” I have heard this metaphor at least a hundred times, but for some reason reading that text message from my brother really made things click. He was right, it was a small hurdle in the grand scheme of things and I was going to get over it.

I had turned in one of my first large mixed media and acrylic paintings to a local contest and it was turned down with the critique of being “too crafty and unoriginal.” Naturally any kind of failure hurts, especially when you fail right out of the starting blocks, but it’s not the end. It just sucks. So after wincing and holding back tears from my tumble, I am back on my feet.

Tripping hurts, failure hurts, face plants and decking really hurt as my friend Jenny encountered last week, but there’s always a rebound, a high to match the low, a path to take, a hand up, and another hurdle to cross. So while I am naturally disappointed about this first defeat, the race is far from over, and I am recharged and ready to clear the next hurdle.

The beginning

Like many others at the beginning of this year, the American Alpine Club prompted some Big Dream thinking for me. I have always been at home in the dirt and the sand and the pine needles. My scarred knees are generally covered with try-hard scabs and the AAC has reminded me that these qualities make me special, that everyone deserves the chance to dream big, go big, and make a difference. 

It is a scary process however to take these dreams from the ethereal place they live and bring them into the light of reality. Because once they step out of the shadows they are subject to gravity and all other laws of said reality. Luckily being a rock climber has helped me build a decent relationship with gravity and my first few steps in the light of reality have been sunburn free.

I am hoping this blog and portion of my website will serve as a place for me to brainstorm, track my thoughts and projects, and share my process and inspirations. I am not by any means a trained writer, but I do like words so hopefully any inevitable grammar or syntax mistakes will be forgiven with a giggle and a shake of the head. Please and thank you ;)