The Journey of True Healing

I’ve recently returned from visiting my beloved Argentina. For those of you that don’t know me, I was born and raised in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. I moved to the US in August of 2000 to go to graduate school. I’ve been in the US ever since, and have only gone back “home” 3 times - this last trip marking my fourth. Home is in quotation marks because I do believe “home” is where you make it. As cheesy as that sounds. And my HOME is my little family. I was blessed to be able to go with my little family to Jujuy and share some of my roots.

Our kiddos got to see where I grew up - very different from how and where they’re growing up. I was born and raised in the capital city of Jujuy, called San Salvador de Jujuy. San Salvador is a couple hours south of the northern city of Humahuaca.

Humahuaca is home to the Humahuaca Gorge, a stunning landscape that resulted from very diverse geological processes that began in the Precambrian. This gorge and it’s surrounding region were declared a Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2003. The great variety of rocks seen here - including some of the oldest in the country - give an extraordinary color to this landscape. Among numerous points of interest, and one we made a point to visit this time, is the Serrania del Hornocal (the Hornocal sierras - shown in the photo here):

Getting to the Hornocal was no joke! Humahuaca is already at an elevation of over 9,800 feet above sea level. We ascended (by car in a span of 2 hours) an additional 4,000 feet above sea level, give or take. The over 20 km long road was slow, windy, utterly and completely made of dirt.

The steady ascent that took over 2 hours was worth it, though. The stunning view took our breath away! But so did the altitude - even after reaching our desired goal, the summit, we had trouble enjoying and rejoicing, because breathing was tricky, for some more than others. We were 14,108 feet above sea level when all was said and done. Thankfully, the locals have figured out how to milk that and we were able to purchase coca leaf candy and pupusa candy (both staples in the Altiplano regions of northern Argentina and Chile, and southern Bolivia and Peru, as coca leaf and pupusa herb are amazing herbal remedies for altitude sickness and other bronchial and pulmonary ailments). The stuff works. (We can chat another day about the power of placebo).

Here’s the thing: True Healing is a lot like a windy, dusty, steep road up to the summit where Awe and Wonder await. True Healing takes work. It takes energy. It takes commitment. It takes community. It takes family and/or friends that come alongside you, for part or all of the way. It takes finding ways to cope with the discomforts along the journey, while ensuring the journey isn’t compromised by those coping mechanisms. It takes others with more experience waiting for us at the top, and who will provide us with additional, tools we didn’t know we’d need in order to adapt to and cope with the new demands of the successful journey.

And True Healing takes bravery.

If you’re here reading this, you’re brave. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

I Invite you to stick with it, dig your heels in and persevere on this amazing journey of True Healing you’re on. I am honored to come along side you for part or all of this process. Know you’re not alone.

And if nothing else, remember the saying on this graffiti I saw on a street corner in San Salvador the other day:

See you around!

Amanda