September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a time to reflect, reach out to our loved ones, and understand that anyone can be struggling with their mental health. One individual decided to address her mental health issues on a 500-mile-long hike, and wrote a memoir about her experiences.
The Bookworm of Edwards on Thursday will host a special evening with author Becky Jensen to discuss her memoir “No Man’s Land,” an inspiring story of personal transformation on the 500-mile Colorado Trail. There will be Q&A and a book signing following the presentation, and light refreshments provided.
Jensen was struggling with depression and feeling trapped in her life, so she looked to nature for healing. “Ten years ago, I was 45-years-old and silently struggling,” Jensen said. “I knew I had some major soul work to do, and nature had always been my medicine. Something in my gut told me I needed to unplug, slow down, and step away from my familiar world. I needed to give myself time to think and room to breathe so I could figure some things out.”
That 500-mile journey through the Colorado wilderness both tested and inspired Jensen, through a whole host of unique experiences.
“Without sharing any spoilers, the experiences that rank the highest would be getting caught in a terrifying electrical storm, being given a trail name, scattering my dad’s ashes, finishing the Colorado Trail in Durango with a new friend, and all the wonderful fellow hikers and trail angels I met along the way,” Jensen said. “I started this 500-mile journey thinking I would hike it alone, but it was anything but solo. The trail taught me that life is about building community.”
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“No Man’s Land” by Becky Jensen.Courtesy photo