a lesson in love

as learned when surrounded by aspen and pine

Jul 18, 2025

tales from the road - part I

may 30th, 2025

last night, Devika and i arrived at the first campsite on our road trip. i did not sleep as well as i’d hoped, though waking up to the sound of an early spring rushing creek, bird song, and the filtered light through the trees all have a way of settling me. i realized this is the first time i’m camping without another person. it feels empowering to be autonomous navigating the landscape with only inner dialogue. i am blessed to have Devika as my guardian. i watch her as she watches this new place, ears perked and nose wiggling trying to capture the sounds and scents. today we will drive to our next campsite in Nevada where we meet up with my cousin and her two dogs who will join us for the next few days of our trip. in this early moment of solitude, i lay down my intentions for this trip. quiet whispers and pen etchings made to solidify why i am here. to make real that yes, i am here.

june 2nd, 2025

we made it to Wyoming. the past couple of days were filled with driving and quick adventures. singing my favorite songs across Nevada to a sleeping Devika. wiping dried salt from her paws at the great salt flats. witnessing her run and explore with her friends in Utah. drinking up the landscape as the miles rolled on. my eyes darting and resting to witness it all from different angles. it has started raining so we retreated to the car, i welcome this moment of pause. there’s thunder in the distance and Devika’s warm breath is on my arm. i have already learned so much on this trip about trust. trusting Devika that when she is given freedom, she will return to me. and trusting that doing so will strengthen the kind of relationship i want us to have.

she has been such a mirror to myself. for i am also still learning to trust myself off leash. the sense of freedom and confidence she exudes when she is running is what i strive to feel. and it is what i feel on this trip. this landscape feels so wild, and unfamiliar - and yet my bones do remember what it was like to traverse an exhilarating unknown. this landscape is unleashed.

when we got close to the snowy mountain range, we were greeted with intense winds, thick dark clouds, and wide open spaces that quickly turned into vistas of mountains still drenched in snow. i stop at the top of the summit to take photos. the lake we had planned to dip in is still frozen over. the cold strikes my skin - dried from the Utah desert. i let the wind, thin mountain air, and sun chap and peel my lips. i let the high altitude train my lungs to breathe in this new space. i let the dirt pile under my finger nails. i bathe naked in the rushing glacial streams. i notice the trails of wrinkles running on my face revealing all of the times i’ve known joy. i let my dog run wild in the snow. she runs and puts her own body in a snowy creek and then emerges looking like a little wolf. my wild, content creature. with a fresh slight limp in her gait from the sap that got stuck on her paw - a side effect of adventure. i kiss her wet and cold face and tell her how much i love her.

she is my mirror. i had told myself i wanted a confident, secure dog, and instead i found myself with a dog whose fears and anxieties are strikingly familiar. she has taught me so much of my own insecurities. She has taught me so much of what love means. and sometimes love means to let go. she reminds me of the kind of love i want to foster and cultivate - a kind of love that feels free. a kind of love that feels wild and alive like the feeling of swimming naked in a cold stream. a kind of love that feels like returning home knowing you will be received with open arms. no judgments, only questions about your adventures. a home that encourages your wildness. the more i unleash my dog. the more i unleash myself. the more the two of us learn what it means to feel safe, the more confident we feel when we explore the space of freedom.

i let her loose in wild Wyoming as i learn to release my own inner wolf. i have neglected a lot of the kind of writing i used to do - uninhibited writing to release my thoughts - but it is here, sitting in my car with my little wolf after being inspired by watching her run in the snowy wilderness that i once again let loose the wild that is my mind as it traverses the landscape of this wilderness called life. i have had this dog for three months only and she has already made me more aware of myself than i have on my own. may we both continue to trust and love in a way that feels unleashed.

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june 2nd, 2025
a lesson in love -
as learned when surrounded by aspen and pine
sitting in my car
during an afternoon storm at a Wyoming campground
my dog's warm breath on my arm

to love a love worth loving
is to
love with open palms
release the grip
let that leash slip
and unbind the wild heart
- katie shakira

an invitation: reflect on ways that you can cultivate the wild within you. take a moment to close your eyes and feel into your body. what does wild feel like to you? does it have a texture? does it have a sound? allow yourself to explore this landscape in ways that feel good. in ways that feel expansive. in ways that feel like a remembering.

what i’m listening to: this song is how a wild and free love can feel like. “you taught me how to love myself and now i’m fearless”

what i’m reading: i’ve been reading Rumi’s book of poems, The Essential Rumi, for a couple of years now - slowly digesting the words - and it’s one of the books i brought with me on my trip. Rumi writes about many things so beautifully, especially of love.

mutual aid: Immigrant Defenders Law Center is a non-profit organization helping protect people who are at risk for deportation. they have ways to donate and share their work to help them continue providing support for our immigrant community.

sending love from where i reside at the peak of summer time,

katie shakira

magic in the mundane

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