On Easter Sunday I went on a long and inspiring hike up a creek bed in the Santa Barbara area with some friends. It was a great day for a hike. The sky was cloudy with some rays of sun shining through with a breeze in the air. This was my 4th hike in the past week, so I was feeling a little shy of going on a long hike. I felt some hesitation knowing that I would be climbing and jumping rocks, for quite a ways, which I normally love doing, but today I felt tired. I also could feel that something was in store for me, on this day.
By the time, my friends and I reached the trail head, I felt more energized and ready for a longer adventure. On our way, I was pointing out to my friends the poison oak patches, as well as mugwort, which is a great remedy in case one gets poison oak. There was quite a bit of poison oak around on the trail heading towards the creek. As we approached the creek, we began the fun of rock hopping with eagerness to see what lies ahead. From the beginning, I could feel myself letting go of some old layers and tension in my body. As I let go of my tiredness, I felt the stress surfacing. I could feel where I was not being very present and just trapsing along. This was the greatest opportunity for me to grow and my ally, the poison oak, to come in to greet me. More like meeting me with a kick in the ass. The invitation came, when I found a great place among the rocks, what appeared to be a little island of sand and privacy. It was the perfect place. So, I took off my backpack, and peed. No problem, right. Wrong! As I prepared to leave the spot, I turned and looked to my side as I saw this poison oak plant wavy back at me. What? I didn’t even see this coming. I must have spaced out over the plant, not even seeing it. Wow! I didn’t even feel it touch my skin.
When I got home that evening, the first thing I did was take a shower. No sign of rash at this point. In fact, 3 days later I didn’t feel it. I pretty much had put it out of my thoughts. The 4th day, I started to itch and then the next day more, until it had fully arrived. 2 weeks of itchy, burning, hair raising irritations. Sleeping, which is one of my favorite things to do, became my least. I couldn’t sit much, for it was by my butt. Clothes against the skin felt like sandpaper. It’s amazing how just a few small spots of this rash can go a long way.
As I went through the irritability of my reaction to the rash, I came to realize that this was the perfect gift for me. It helped me to see the places where I have been emotionally invested in stress, that I would normally hold in and keep to myself. I was letting go of so much trauma and old energy, all at once. I could feel the heat and anger that wanted so badly to be expressed, yet I had not been able to quite get to that surface so easily. It was a challenging experience, but as I began to see it as an opportunity to heal and since there were signs that it was fading, I became more relaxed and allowed myself to really feel and express my feelings and emotions more freely.
As I was running errands around town, I even shared with a few people of the poison oak rash and just by doing so I felt better. It felt great to just share, to say it out loud what I was experiencing, being true to the moment and to the people I would come into contact with; even people I had just met for the first time. So, poison Oak a curse or a gift? For me, I’d say a gift, in this experience. I feel more expansive, free, personal and open, when I opened to the opportunity of the experience. It was also great for my paintings, since standing and creating felt the most comfortable and supportive thing to do at the time.