Welcome!
If this is your first time here, allow me say welcome! Kick back and spend a few minutes soaking up some thought provoking inspiration for your day. The purpose of this meeting place is to inspire you to get out and seek renewed connections with the natural world and with the God who created it all. You will find adventure, insight, and meaningful reflections as we journey together.
John Muir in his Yosemite writings once said, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” There is a healing and renewed strength that comes to us each time we set foot in nature whether it is a quiet space in our backyard or climbing the heights of a mountaintop cathedral.
My Story
Before we get too far along, let me introduce myself. I grew up in a fairly rural setting in the foothills of Cupertino, California (long before it became Silicon Valley). There were orchards and fields to wander, huge oak trees to climb, and beautiful mountains that were always calling. We were within 5 hours of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks and only hours from State parks like Big Basin and Pinnacles. It was here that I fell in love with outdoor wandering and backpacking. After my first trip, I immediately realized, “This is who I am.” I truly felt alive and connected when sauntering through the mountains of California.
There were years of college, military service, marriage, family and working 37 years in Aerospace, before finally having the freedom to retire. During all those years, backpacking and hiking were central to our family vacation times and weekend getaways. My wife and three boys enjoyed many epic trips on vacations that are still vivid in each of our memories; testaments’ to the enduring power of the natural world to engage and connect with our mind and soul.
A forty-year dream from my early college years was to hike the 2,660 mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. The dream was neatly tucked away, but once again rekindled as I approached retirement. So many friends from work and my social circle encouraged me to keep a journal or blog so they could follow along. That was the genesis of the original blog (Apogee to Perigee) and the beginning of my writing and blogging pastime.
The initial blog met with success, viewership, and the realization based on reader comments, that I needed to re-launch the blog with a broader scope and thus, Inspire to Seek was born.
Road Signs to help you Navigate Inspire to Seek
Let me briefly introduce you to the five categories shown below the header on the main page.
Adventures on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT): This category chronicles Perry’s 2,660 mile backpacking thru hike from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)
Five Minute Inspirational Moments: Magical and at times supernatural moments that inspire as we fully engage the created world around us.
Get Out (and be inspired!): Practical suggestions and next steps to Getting Out and into the natural world. Ideas to motivate and expand your experience.
Asking, Seeking, Knocking: Writings to encourage you to deepen your spiritual connections through engaging the creator.
The Lighter Side of Wilderness Wandering: Humorous anecdotes of critter encounters and crazy happenings when you walk into wild spaces!B
As a quick sampler, here are some of the more popular posts that have resonated with viewers like you. Thanks again and I look forward to meeting you via Facebook or your comments here on the blog. Shalom!
- Fanning the Embers of a 40 Year Dream
- Come Away With Me
- A Day in the Life of a Thru Hiker
- Alone and Yet Not Alone
- Ready to Flip Flop
- The Kindness of Strangers
- There is a Way That Seems Right
- After the Summit Comes the Descent
- What’s Your Story?
- A Season to Rebuild and Reconnect
- Day After Day They Pour Forth Speech: Invasive Vines
I encourage you to sign up to receive my bi-weekly newsletter and engage in an ongoing dialogue with the Inspire To Seek Facebook Group.
My hope and prayer is that you will begin the process in your own life of disconnecting from the virtual world (for a while), getting out, engaging your senses to ask, seek, and knock on the door of the created world around you.
You will find in due time that the inspiration and healing you receive will renew and refresh body, mind, and soul!
Blog header compass logo courtesy of (c) Can Stock Photo.