On Trails by Robert Moor

I acquired On Trails from the library ladies who curate a table each week for the Carmel-by-the-Sea market where we sell our gluten-free wares. I’ve never encountered more thoughtful and fun collections than the table put together by these women, one whom often wears sweaters proclaiming, “wild feminist”, or “old book lady”.

Moor’s “On Trails” will always be connected to the Wild Feminist who gave it to me after helping her hang her sign for the booth. It found me—at the exact time I have been exploring the idea and words used to describe trails—In running and mentoring on literal trails and paths, in leading a cohort through a twelve week course to create and develop the skill of creative magic in their life, to approaching my 50th birthday through a massive permanent surgery. A Hail Mary to quiet the suffering from my Crohn’s disease.

The book takes us through a literal, metaphorical, and often spiritual journey to define and understand the author’s (and by extension, our own) relationship to trails. I’ve come to realize, in part to Moor’s writing and through my obvious reflections on life at this age, that our paths are recursive in nature, not linear, sending us back through themes, lessons, and states to hone our experience in this life. But, unlike a constructed path, we tread trails shaped by our genetics, ancestors, experiences, and community. We are never alone and always just a moment of stillness away from the wildness of our experience and the openness of the universe.