I started my adventure as a local guide to document for myself, where I had gone and where I was going. It was more of a journal to keep my mind at ease and my heart calm. It eventually became a part of my routine. I would seek out new places to review, revisit old places to reclaim what was reviewed and visit places others reviewed to see if the feeling for them was the same as it was for me. I was very active with my reviews and then something happened. I experienced a trauma and was unable to see things the way I used to. I was always sad, and upset and angry. I had no way to identify what I was feeling. It became a battle of what I wanted and what I allowed myself to do. After months of isolation and self analyzing, I sought out the assistance of a therapist who explained to me that what I felt was depression. Finding out that there wasn’t a problem with me but rather something that happened to me made me feel steadier. I still felt sad but I was finally able to identify and apply some methods to help.
The hardest part for me, was to figure out, in my own way, what could help me. It was harder when no one else understood what it meant or how much it hurt. My mother, one day surprised me took me for a drive. She took me to Fort George (a historic landmark in my home town). Throughout the drive, she told me to take in the view and breathe. It was one of my favorite places to visit and after months of avoiding this spot, she carried me there. As I stood at the top of the hill and overlooked the city, I saw what captivated me in the beginning. After some tears, and some laughs, we drove back home. She reminded me how passionate I was about being a local guide and how she longed to see that drive in me again.
We made a pact that day to visit some of my favorite places and to find, some coping mechanisms for myself that would help on the days my depression was too much to handle. Over the course of the next few weeks, we revisited some and reminisced about the others. We touched base on the places where I had the happiest memories and the best reviews.
When battling any mental issue, it is so easy to let it engulf you and take over, I am so grateful to have had my mother help me through and guide me back go what I know and love. Being a local guide for me, is about finding myself when I am lost. It is following a map to a memory or place and finding a feeling that cannot be explained by anything else. It is about sharing with others the hope of something good, or to avoid something bad. It is about opportunity and adventure, seeking the unknown. It is more than being fearless but being brave despite the fear.
The Local Guides program is an army of amazing soldiers, sharing their experiences on the many battlefields of life. It is about finding your purpose or purposely finding something you love. It is deciding if the restaurant is worth it, or if the hike up the hill will give you the view you envision. It is being the change you wish to see, by using your voice, your review, your pictures or videos to influence and hopeful encourage someone to try something new.
For me, It is knowing that my voice, my opinion can make a difference and that is the best part of being a local guide.
