12/11/2020
What’s it called when you have a love for the sun? A love so strong it is one of the main aspects which brings healing to your world? What’s it called when you gain so much dopamine from its rays that when the season changes you feel depleted? In my dad’s world this shows up as SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder and I’m here to talk about how for the past 50 years he has been able to use movement to keep it at bay. Every year he comes face to face with the sun's hibernation during the PNW’s winter months and he is faced with a choice. He knows he can either fall into its trap of darkness and a black hole of depression or he can choose to move intentionally away from an inevitable fall. My dad’s name is Adam and I hope by me sharing his healing tool it inspires you to find one that works for you.
how has he jumped over hurdles of despair and been able to sprout up out of the ground like May flowers after months of rain? He runs. He moves. He lifts. He walks. He makes movement his best friend. For the past 27 years of my life, I have never seen this man goes three days without movement. He describes the important of movement in his life as his medicine. When he runs outside he feels less trapped by his own thoughts. When he lifts he is reminded of the power he holds to lift his worries literally off his shoulders. He discovered exercise and its healing properties at the age of 18 and has never looked back. Dad knew movement was critical to his wellness and so he made the choice to pick a career that also required movement. He built a landscape company from the ground up and created a life for himself that he knew would eventually be the thing that has continued to save his life.
When I look at these pictures I took of my dad I see the healing transpiring before my eyes. It’s like when he runs he is showing gratitude for his practice and medicine which keeps him safe in the winter months. Movement is Adam’s guidance saying to him, “You are alive. You are strong. Your happiness is an inspiration to those around you and I’m here to keep you save. You’re doing a great job, just keep moving.”
- Written by his daughter, Kristina Carpenter
