Hearts Wide Open

Plus a Three Rivers Water Trail Survey

I breathed a huge sigh of relief last Thursday when I got home from my last trip of the fall. I had six trips in an eight-week span. It was wonderful. It was also a lot.

And something kind of strange happened on two consecutive trips: I kept seeing Humpty Dumpty imagery and began wondering about the significance. Was I about to experience a great fall? Would I be cracked wide open? Is some personal or professional shift about to occur that will involve a putting together of the pieces?

I’ve held onto this curiosity while moving through my busy autumn. With a little more space to reflect today, I began to explore quotes about hearts “cracking wide open” (“it’s the only way to live”, etc., etc.). And then I found a Mary Oliver poem, “Lead,” in which she writes about a mass bird die off. She closes the poem with:

“I tell you this
to break your heart,
by which I mean only
that it break open and never close again
to the rest of the world.”

Here’s a link to the full poem. In a separate post, Parker J. Palmer wrote that the poem is an invitation to heartbreak “to help us become more open and responsive to a suffering world.” Another person writing about the poem, LoraKim Joyner, observed, “We are to journey to places where our hearts break.” How beautifully stated, and what courage this takes. Hearts are breaking all over the world right now. As global citizens as well as in our own communities, it’s this openness and the ability to bear witness that allows us to see each other and keeps us from closing ourselves off.

Before I got onto this topic, I had intended to write about my first session of the Appalachian Leadership Institute. There will be other opportunities for me to write about that program, but one connection I want to make is to the notion of being wide open. Besides the heart metaphor, I saw a quote about the ways in which children and adults learn. Writer Jodi Picoult said, “Kids think with their brains cracked wide open: becoming an adult, I’ve decided, is only a slow sewing shut.” As I move throughout Appalachia for the program and in my own travels, maybe I’ll need to add a seam ripper to my kit. Open is the answer. It’s the only way can learn, grow, and share in community.

---

Three Rivers Water Trail Survey

Calling all water trail enthusiasts in southwestern Pennsylvania! I’ve been assisting Friends of the Riverfront and Environmental Planning & Design in developing a management plan for the Three Rivers Water Trail. You can help Friends improve waterway access and facilities by taking the user survey. (You would be helping me out as well.)

Your input is invaluable in helping us understand the needs, preferences, and concerns of water trail users. This survey is for anyone who is interested in or already enjoys spending time along Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers. Please note: this includes those who enjoy the water with landside activities such as fishing, birding, walking, and picnicking. The survey is open until November 30. Once complete, you can enter to win a Sea to Summit dry bag!

All About Trail Towns Facebook Group

Have you joined the “All About Trail Towns” Facebook group? If you’re looking to connect with a larger trail town community, this is a great space for doing so. Please join us!

Reminder: I’m Raising my Rates

Friends of Cycle Forward…I’ve been getting some one-on-one business coaching from the Duquesne Small Business Development Center (highly recommend!). My consultant has a way of simplifying things that weren’t so simple in my own head. When she asked me if I’d raised my rates recently and my answer was something like, “No, but I probably should,” she emphatically responded, “Amy, the price of EVERYTHING has gone up since the pandemic. It’s time.”

With that, I’ll be raising my rates on January 1. If you’ve been considering me for a consulting project, workshop, or keynote address please reach out to me to secure that work under the current rates. If we’re under contract by the end of the year, I’ll honor these rates for any work that occurs in the first quarter of 2024.

Gratitude Notes

I’m so grateful to everyone I’ve met and connected with this fall at the following events:

• Pennsylvania Greenways & Trails Summit

• Iowa Trails Summit

• Central Ohio Greenways Forum and Placemaking Workshop

• York County Trail Towns Summit (PA)

• Appalachian Leadership Institute in Fayetteville, WV

• Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition Summit in Pittsburgh, PA

• National Trails Workshop in Orlando, FL

I feel so fortunate to meet and build relationships with people who care about trails and communities. I was talking with a couple of collaborators at one of these events about how connected we all feel to the trails community. It’s a fantastic group of humans who are working really hard to make a difference through trails, and for this, I am grateful.