Only Feel Alone When With My Computer

by | Jun 15, 2018 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Okay, here it comes! Are you ready to read about what you already know? It might make you a bit uncomfortable, but I am strong and so are you…………here goes.

Loneliness is more pervasive than ever, but how can that be when we have so many “friends”. We spend enormous amounts of time watching people’s lives unfold on Facebook. We know who is pregnant, where people celebrated their birthdays and with whom they vacation, even to the detail of what they had for dinner. These, however, is NOT real meaningful connection. There I wrote it in black and white.

Take the time today to watch yourself. Take note of your daily habits and how much time you spend in front of a screen (big or little in this case really does matter!) An even more frightening exercise would be to watch your children and take note of how much time they spend gazing at a screen and not learning all the social cues required to have personal relationships.

I am not easily shocked but recently had two observations blow my socks off! The first was to watch a young couple sitting next to each other for over an hour. Both never looked in the other’s eyes but were glued to their phones. Yikes, I saw no connection or intimacy in this interaction.
The second was watching a mother and her sister instruct a 1-year-old on how to watch a video at their lunch table. The child kept trying to listen to them, watch and learn from them, and they kept coaching him to look back at the screen. Scary, this caused me to look around in the metro, at cafes, even at high-end restaurants. People on the street plugged into music don’t even acknowledge or greet each other. Everywhere I go I see a rampant human disconnect.

I want to take a quiet stroll with a caring friend and talk about my life (sounds like a scene from a Victorian movie). I need this, I crave it, I insist on it with my friends and family AND when I do I see they appreciate the quiet time as well.

I like to laugh frequently with those I love and even chuckle just watching them laugh. These are gifts of being in proximity to actual human beings. My heart lights up when I hear a friend describe the goofy activities of their beloved child, and alternately I am strong enough to sit with the sadness of friend who has lost a loved one. It connects us to share personally life’s triumphs and defeats.

I don’t feel alone when I allow myself to be open to people. I do, however, feel very alone when it is just me and my computer.

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Our History

The Women's Heritage Walk is a life-affirming trek inspired by the worldwide history of women who walked to feed their families, bring water to the villages, trade goods and services, and migrate to safer, more hospitable lands. Women have been on the move for centuries, often reacting to the weather, food, and resources.

The Walks was a natural corollary to the three-day Wellness Seminars established in and around the mountains of Garmisch, Germany, in 1992. This format expanded to Poland, Rome, Italy, and into schools to meet the growing need to address the social and emotional need to cope with increased stress, particularly bullying in schools. Women's Heritage Walk, established in 2015, has become an unrivaled multi-layered experience for women.

The Women's Heritage Walk is an unrivaled multi-layered experience for women. It is rooted in the belief that women empower each other, their families, communities, and themselves through growth, learning, and pushing their limits.

Preparation begins three months in advance with a curated program to prepare walkers mentally and physically for an arduous, exciting adventure. This experiential journey captivates all the senses and enhances each woman's physical strength and internal fortitude while enhancing an individual's personal health and wellness path.

This adventure allows walkers to immerse themselves authentically in the local country's cultural heritage. Daily programs stimulate a more profound understanding of our foremothers' life experiences and offer a new appreciation for the habits and customs borne from the hardships of early life.

Participants forge deeper bonds with themselves and each other through physical, mental, and emotional development. Shared hardships endured with common goals create lifelong attachments, increase mutual understanding, widen tolerance parameters, heighten mutual respect, and reinforce shared values. Once accomplished, it accentuates individual strengths and potential more fully.

This transformational endeavor impacts the Walkers and their network of friends, family, colleagues, and community members. Each person learns vicariously from the participant's persistence, perseverance, lifestyle changes, growth, reinvigoration, and heightened knowledge.

Each year brings a new adventure and opportunity to connect as we obtain the most up-to-date research to augment and improve upon the four pillars of Culture and Heritage, Health and wellness, Strength and Leadership, and Community Connection.

We employ an overarching approach encompassing all human needs. We focus on physical and mental health, joy and balance in relationships and spiritual and intellectual curiosity.

Tolerance, perseverance, self-awareness, and cultural respect are themes discussed in the Wellness Component. These become more relevant as the event brings women from multiple nationalities together. The journey provides an open forum for the women to discuss culture, values, and traditions and to learn from each other without judgment. Through it, they discover more that unites them than separates them.

Each woman takes a chance by overcoming fear and disrupting their life momentarily, hoping to find something special inside and outside themselves. Through connections to others unlike themselves, they learn and grow.

"A heart afraid never learns to dance and never takes a chance." Bette Midler

Fear isolates us and diminishes our opportunity to live our best lives by finding our best selves. We must be challenged to do this, and the Women's Heritage will challenge you. Complacency and walking through our lives on autopilot does not. When we think of adventures, we think of exploring something outside ourselves. However, in this Walk, a large part of this challenge and any arduous struggle happens inside ourselves. This Walk challenges you to go outside your comfort zone in all areas.

This program is guided by integrity and honors heritage. The Women's Heritage Walk develops personal and collective strength. Proximity and shared hardship build not only tolerance but respect. By finishing, they teach our daughters, families, and community that difficult does not mean impossible. The challenging walks teach us to persevere with compassion, humbly appreciate nature's power, and draw on inner strength to keep moving forward when weary. This gift of struggling fortifies a heightened and profound belief in oneself and gratitude for the support given.

Along with her in-country cultural experts, Jody continues to develop a modern and ever-growing tribe of a global 'sisterhood.'

26-year-old UAE national Waheeda Al Hadhrami participated in 2017 and said about the event, "Walking through our beautiful deserts and reconnecting with our past was life-changing, although it was physically and mentally challenging. The experience allowed me to meet many women from different backgrounds and walks of life, and I enjoyed the cultural exchange. I loved every step of the journey!"