For some reason, I keep coming back to the idea that if we don't get lost we can't really find our way. Maybe it's because I get lost a lot! More likely it's a reminder that however lost we get, we're always connected.

This story takes place in central Florida, where I recently had an open day (due to a workshop cancellation); it's very hot here in the summer (obviously) and I wasn't relishing a meaningless day in the concrete jungle of a massive college campus. Instead of grousing or escaping into "electron land," I decided to get out and walk/run around the campus to see what I might find. My hope was that maybe I would locate actual edible food somewhere...

But I found something even more interesting than that. A small picnic table tucked against a tree about 20 yards off the concrete pathway drew my attention away from the much-traveled road. I noticed a greenhouse amidst the trees, and behind that a robust community garden. And beyond that, a subtle trail system through a large green space (which turned out to be hundreds of acres in all) that I would have missed if I wasn't meandering instead of getting to a destination.

It was an arboretum area, with a wooden trail system across part of it. About halfway through, I noticed some very inspiring graffiti on the trellising, with colorful images and uplifting words. A note toward the end gave details about the authors: they were students from the Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland, site of a horrific mass shooting the year before. The students who visited this college campus also found their way to the green space, and left their mark on the future.



At the end of the trail I wound up in the arboretum office, and I met two students working there who, among other things, helped me figure out where the healthy food options around campus were located. I had found what I was seeking after all, just by being willing to get lost!

Then again, we're never really lost when we recognize the deeper reality of being one human family -- on, through, and with the earth.