I wish I understood at an earlier age that your interests and passions are yours alone to choose. Don’t feel the need to fit perfectly inside a mold.
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I write because I know I'm not the only one feeling the way that I do. I write because “I’m not Black enough.” I write because I love the outdoors. I write because our voices deserve to be heard.
We wanted to create something to riff on that moment when you think you’re the “only one” but actually aren’t. And that is pretty much how Soy Sauce Nation was born.
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Where the current pulled left, the water darkened. To my front and right, I could see slivers of light and air bubbles at the edges of the fishbowl’s rim. Water and air were being mixed and pushed downstream from the ledge. That must be where the real air is. At the surface.
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…Alex said, “hey, we should all go to Spain!” I was like, “I’ve never been, but sure, sounds great!”
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And each time I turned around I felt like a complete failure! Maybe it’s the universe’s way of telling me to pick another hobby. A safer hobby. A warmer hobby. In fact, each time I fail, I tend to go through the complete stages of grief. Seriously! I go through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and the hardest one, acceptance.
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I left my home country Oromia at the age of 12 and immigrated to the Pacific Northwest United States. After saving up enough money I finally went back home at the age of 21. In those years that I was away from home I dedicated my time to learning about the history, the landscape and the culture of Oromia. So when I finally purchased my plane ticket I made a list of all the places that I wanted to visit and one of the places that was on top of my list was the Sof Omar Caves.
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When I walk, climb, jump, and dive I feel like I am not only challenging myself, but paying homage to the people who have struggled so much to pave the way for my own existence, for my own success.
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Will was gaining on me. I turned back downstream and hit the gas. Several thoughts flashed through my mind. Good god, he’s fast! Followed immediately by Good god, I’m slow. Go Faster!
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The more I explore the city’s natural surroundings, the more I realize how much the river—and not political pageantry—dominates the city’s landscape, its history, and its mood. All paths lead to the Potomac somehow.
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The hypnotherapy made me brave enough to start obstacles, but I needed something to get me through the obstacles. For this, I scream like I’ve being cut up in tiny pieces with a dull knife.
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We are in an ongoing fight for our collective imagination; that’s to say, we are in a constant battle for how we imagine things to be, reality or fiction aside. Fictional movies, dystopias and utopias; visuals on social media, music videos, and in art; the daily and nightly news; and even the written word are all in some way always affecting how we come to imagine the world to be, and so how we come to interact with it via our respective realities.
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From this point on things get significantly more strenuous. The down climb to saddle between peak 4 and peak 3 took half an hour and the highly exposed trek to the summit of peak 3 another forty minutes. At this point we were around 6 hours in to the traverse. The remaining 3 miles of the hike took another 11 hours of grueling routing finding and slow climbing.
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I feel like I've seen it all, candy wrappers, empty plastic water bottles, hair ties, socks, underwear, dog poop bags that are full and tied up for the poop fairy to pick up (there isn't one), and guess what else? New and used tampons and condoms! Yep, that's right!
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‘No where are you really from’ is a familiar question for Women of Color who are constantly asked to either prove our American-ness or explain our Other-ness when we really just want to sit-fly.
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I'm always excited to see the size and depth of the paddling community here in the NW and this years event didn't disappoint. That dinner line is harder to walk though than a family reunion. You see people stopping every few feet to catch up with friends, or jockeying a spot in line with a new one.
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There’s something magic in the ocean, something calming, something magnetic. You don’t need to be an ocean swimmer or surfer to gain the benefits of that. You just need to get close and listen.
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I’ve purchased my flights and cleared my work schedule. This isn’t just another random vacation; today I’ve selected my next mountaineering objective. It’s no longer merely a lofty vision. There is a sense of palpability every time I glance at those chosen days on the calendar. This adventure that has captured my attention for years is coming nearer with each day. In these times of alpine anticipation, the wise will prepare and capture each valuable minute.
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Peru is a wonderful country for all outdoor enthusiasts! There is surfing, mountaineering, rock climbing, mountain biking, and much more. For those of you who are interested in visiting Peru, I’ll share our experiences to hopefully make your trip planning smoother. We split our time between Lima and Cusco, so this review will focus on the climbing in those areas.
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So to tell the truth I started hiking because it felt like a vacation for me and it was what I could afford at the time. I had such an amazing time and I was able to discover such a beautiful side of the Pacific Northwest and fall in love.
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