You need to start in Missoula, MT, explore the area, then get into a car full of girls and one guy. Drive for a while and end up at a trailhead near Highway 2. Backpack in the Badger-Two Medicine for three nights. While there, cook the best shepherd’s pie known in WRFI history, maybe burn your hair a little in the process. Survive a storm that lasts around 24 hours, dry all your soaked items while in the front country. Meet with guest speakers, learn about the Blackfeet National history as well as some Blackfeet sign language. Ask questions, take notes; you are here to learn, after all.
Learn about the history of Glacier National Park and all the land that was loved then lost then loved again. Learn what the Blackfeet mean when they say that everything is alive and connected, “Aoksiswaato-go, which translates to “all living things depend on one another”” (Waldkoenig, 8). You need to experience this land, go to Glacier National Park, hike to upper Grinnell Glacier Lake, step into the water and fully submerge yourself (very important). Hike back down, get some huckleberry cream soda that has no real huckleberry in it. Go back to Glacier the next day at 9:15 PM. Shhh. Be quiet, like, complete silence. Grab your bear spray and walk down to the water and sit, watch, and wait. Keep your mind on one thing, you’re almost there, but not quite yet; you need to move locations. Follow your instructor down a smaller path, practically running after him to keep up. You arrive at a cliff overlooking the lake and mountains.
You have arrived, walk to the cliffs edge and take a seat by yourself, away from everyone. All living things depend on one another, and you are one of those living things, depending on the mountains of Glacier for some of their knowledge. Remember that singleness of focus? Keep thinking about it, for “a singleness of focus is the key to transmission” (Lana Del Rey, Tessa Dipiatro). Maybe the singleness of focus is about everything that happened the past week and a half; or maybe it’s about developing inner intuition, so “close your eyes and feel where you hold your attention. If it’s in the back of your eyes, walk to down to your hearts center, and make that the place from which your thoughts enter” (Lana Del Rey, Tessa DiPiatro). You have made it, yet something is missing. Look down, all the way down, down to the shore that’s far below you. Two wild beavers are on the shore, dancing with one another as they enter the cold blue water and swim away. No one else saw this, for you are alone; your Claire-cognizance has finally reached you. What it is? I cannot say, just use this simple guide and discover it, your way.