Day 39 Rest Day Marla

It’s 923am on Thursday the 10 June 2021.

I head off soon for the stage 4 Marla to Yulara. Yesterday was my rest day to recover and reset. I found myself thinking a lot about the last day on the Oodnadatta track and wanted to share those thoughts briefly before moving on and focusing on today.

42km out of Marla I was feeling disconnected in many ways. It took someone to care to reconnect to what we’re all a part of and that’s human connection. I think we need it as human beings. We’re pack animals first not lone wolves. Sometimes for me it takes being without something to appreciate it truly. I was not functioning well on the track and then I was able to function. It was like putting my finger into a power socket and feeling something deeper that I could tap into. Human connection is so powerful and essential. Feeling disconnected is disabling. William Glasser was an American psychiatrist who developed ‘choice theory.’ He spoke about the connecting habits and disconnecting habits we human beings can choose by. Connecting habits are support, listening, encouragement, acceptance, respect, negotiating difference and trust. Disconnecting habits are blaming, bribing, complaining, criticising, punishing, threatening and nagging. We’re capable of such loving kindness and such savagery towards ourselves and each other. Choosing whether I enable connecting or disconnecting habits is a real reckoning. I reckon caring habits are the way to go every day and twice on Sunday, what do you reckon? Claudia from Marree gave me a hand written note before leaving to share her appreciation of our meeting and words of encouragement.

I now have a better understanding of what Rumi may have meant in his words. Every drop in an ocean makes it powerful. Everyone of us ‘drops’ can tap into the power of the ocean when we’re apart of it.

Onto Yulara. It was an amazing sunrise to start the next stage of our journey. Talk soon xx