Author: Regina Reiter

May 2, 2018

This week marks the ten-year anniversary of the launch of my Pacific Crest Trail walk. If you’re not familiar with that trail, it’s one of the eleven National Scenic trails, 2,650 miles long, winding northward from the border of Mexico to the border of Canada. In 2007, I focused my attention on completing the Appalachian Trail, viewing its completion as a way to get the project out of my system to clear my mind for my next career. I had not even heard of the PCT until I spent a night at the Kincocora Hostel, in Tennessee just shy of 1800 miles into my walk from Maine on the Appalachian Trail. Even paging through the Yogi’s Guide to the PCT didn’t entice me. read more

April 25, 2018

“Do what you love, the money will follow.” Decades ago, I read this. I read Marsha Sinetar’s book by that name and thought, “Sure, for me it would be do what I love and the money will follow waaay behind, far far behind. Do what I love and the money will follow my own investments in doing what I love.”

Well, I’m now wrapping up my fourth season of doing what I love at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park with money in the bank and in my retirement fund. And, if I also count the seven seasons I worked as a Ridgerunner on the Appalachian Trail, that would add up to eleven seasons earning money doing what I love. It can happen – even to a doubter like me! read more

April 10, 2018

Yesterday’s fifth anniversay of my divorce invited me to consider how I am embracing my new relationship. I thought, “Why not invent something new rather than continue pitying myself for settling for a similarly shallow relationship?”

Well, it turns out that my partner took care of that. He bought a 4×4 Chevy Tahoe! “Now, we can drive deeper into the desert,” he celebrated. “Not to just drive, but to position ourselves for walking in more remote places.” read more

April 9, 2018

In the best spirit of Radical Forgiveness which gave me the tools to be able to stand in gratitude and honor for this day, I acknowledge with openness to a Spiritual purpose, that today marks the fifth anniversary of my divorce. I acknowledge, love, accept, and honor myself and my ex for courageously stepping through this gateway – away from feelings, because of beliefs, toward relationships,into an unknown neither of us anticipated when we said, “I do”.

Yet, divorce has given me experiences I value in their rawness and power. Divorce links me with others with whom I now have a bond of the heart. To all of us, blessings on the journey! read more

Simon turns 29 on April 3rd!

Dear Simon,

I love studying the collage of photos I put together for your 18th birthday. I know there have been photos since then, but these are easily accessible and reflect the time that I was with you a whole lot more than I have been in the last 11 years!  Here’s a sampling of one corner of it.  I celebrate your life and my gratitude for being your mom.  What I love about you Simon:

• Your quiet attentiveness to details
• Your inner musical rhythm
• Your reliability
• Your engineering skills shared with the world
• Your sober lifestyle
• Your gentle spirit and generosity

I celebrate YOU!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By4dX48YOv5GLUVnV2J3d0k1UDg read more

March 22, 2018

My mind races with all we have to talk about while a sullen silence bulges the walls of our trailer. Surely his body language is saying, “I feel separate from you, and I most certainly am not going to talk about it.” And that , in my opinion, is exactly what there is to talk about! Listening without commenting or analyzing or fixing. Choosing techniques to navigate our communication blockades, our fears of sharung deeply, honestly, objectively as two people relating.

March 8, 2018

For Wild Wind Journey Day, on June 10th in Atlanta, Barbara’s mission is to learn the alluring drum rhythm of her song Wild Wind and have a chime that rings at just the right time in Perfect Love. I want to make sure that she feels the part as my Forgiveness Walks muse, contributing the five transformative songs of Walk for a Singing Heart which will guide us through our afternoon’s exploration into courage. In Wild Wind Journey Day, Barbara and I will entice you to invoke something fulfilling that you’re dreaming of doing. Through Nature, color, song, and supportive emotional clearing, we will entice you to step boldly into your Wild Wind. read more

March 7, 2018

Designing this summer’s journey has been a roller coaster ride! Several itineraries have taken the stage, been proposed, envisioned, and evaluated. I sadly let go of my Ridgerunning job for this summer, replacing it with a progression of family visits and long distance walking. Now, yet another version calls! It evokes my allegiance to family to take center stage, letting other passions wait in the wings for another season.

My mom needs assistance!

So, I’m now looking at spending my summer with her in Ohio! read more

February 25, 2018

I just got off the phone with Barbara, my Forgiveness Walks muse! We’re planning a dynamic and exhilarating event and YOU’RE INVITED!  We’re doing a reprise of Wild Wind Songfest that was so much fun a couple of years ago! Mark your calendar for Sunday, June 10 in the Atlanta area and join us for Wild Wind Journey Day!  

Barbara encouraged me to change the title to something that emphasizes that this event is truly a journey into our hearts, way more than singing songs. It’s an in-person version of my Walk for a Singing Heart which I offer as an audio program supported by phone calls during your walk. read more

February 20, 2018

This was one of the hardest choices I’ve made in a while! I have loved my ridgerunning job, fulfilling 7 seasons in two different sections of Virginia. I remember one day on the job halting suddenly in a grove of red spruce on the slope of Bluff Mountain saying, “I’ve done it! I’m earning my living hiking!”  At the end of that season, I climbed up to a favorite outcrop on Spy Rock, set up my  camera with a ten-second timer and raised my arms in celebration of my season. A few weeks ago, a friend wrote asking if she could use that photo as a model for her vision of freely walking in mountains following her knee surgery.  What a perfect testimony to the power of that moment for me having walked into my vision!  Yes! Ridgerunning has been a fulfilling summer job! read more