How to Capture the Moment

I’m knee-deep in near-freezing water, groping for footing across stones and pebbles rubbed smooth by the water rushing off of Laurel Fork Falls. The lush foliage surrounding the falls smells fresh and full of life, but I can’t see it; the heavy mist spewing from the turbulent water to my right blinds me. The roaring water drowns out the shouts from my fellow hikers giving me words of encouragement to keep going. I taste nothing but my own cottonmouth; if I fall all of my gear will be soaked. The goal is to reach what will be a make-shift camp ground in an out-of-bounds area circa the falls.

Days, weeks, and months pass with little notice when you're not present and aware of yourself. So, when traveling, it can be maddening to board the plane on your way home and have that "oh my God that flew by" feeling. There are ways to avoid this, some of which I'm sure you already know. Journaling, photography, and saving scrapbook mementos are a few of the popular memory-savers, but one I've created (and have been using regularly) has been really helping me to save individual moments during an adventure.

Try the following:

1. Become aware of yourself and your surroundings and remind yourself of where you are.
2. Choose 1 of your five senses to focus on and ignore all of the other four.
3. Repeat step 2 until you finish all five of your senses.
4. Combine all five senses to complete the memory.

It can be tough to focus on one sense at first, but after very little practice you can focus in on each sense with great intensity. Try writing them down using the format below to help. This gives you a small slice to remember from any given adventure which you can access at anytime to help you remember why you work so hard to escape into an epic expedition.

Sight:
Smell:
Touch:
Taste:
Hear:

Extra Tip: When focusing on sound, smell, and touch close your eyes to heighten the strength of the sense you are focusing on.

-Supervising Educator Hunter Cambon