Yesterday, I got back from a great adventure!  I went camping.  In a tent.  In. A. Tent!  Anyone who’s known me for any length of time, knows that my idea of roughing it, is a hotel with no room service…  until now that is.

It’s been building for a while.  You see, I met these people who I really love hanging out with and they go camping all the time.  I sort of flirted around the idea of camping and watched all of them and their camping fun, taking notes and piecing together what I was willing to do, what I was able to do and what I totally didn’t think I would ever do.  My husband found a vintage, canvas tent on Craigslist and I purchased an incredible, inflatable mattress – it’s 18 inches high and even has an inflatable headboard. My daughter and I bought our tickets to a drum gathering that we had been to last year, but had driven home from every night.

I carefully planned everything that I would need to bring, packed a cooler full of goodies, got some wine and headed out.  I have to admit, I was really nervous – panicked even – but I just breathed through it and headed out.  Admittedly, I had a lot of help – my husband came out and set up the tent and we were beside our good friends who are seasoned campers.  And as we were setting up, a funny thing happened – I just started to relax.  I won’t lie and tell you that it all went off without a hitch – there was a time or two when I actually thought I’d run home and come back, but I persevered and honestly? I had one of the best weekends of my entire life.

Yes it was scary to step outside my comfort zone, of course it was – but it was worth every bit of it. I experienced the gathering in a way that I never could have, if I had run home every night. There were drum circles outside my tent all night long and you wouldn’t believe how relaxing that is if you’ve never experienced it.

This weekend I experienced a few firsts:

• I camped in a tent for three nights
• I swam in a Florida lake for the first time
• I drifted off to sleep to the sound of a hundred drummers
• I wore a purple gypsy skirt with metallic sequins on it
• I wore my crazy hair in a long braid and loved it!
• I deepened my relationship with Nature and the Earth

So what can you do to step out of your comfort zone and experience something new to you? Whatever it is you’re thinking of doing, go ahead and make that plan.  Take little steps if you need to, to make your plan work.