Navigating grief in the outdoors to emerge as a bush adventure therapy leader

Reconnecting with self, others, and nature has empowered me to not only traverse the external landscape of the Flinders Ranges but also the internal terrain of my grief by resetting my bearing towards my true north. As the heroine of my inner healing journey through grief, I have emerged feeling like a whole being, where masculine skills, like map-to-ground navigation, and feminine ways of knowing, like trusting my intuition, are valued equally and work collaboratively together. The question mark in Table 26.1, column 1, has been answered. Through critical reflection and trialling new ways of being in the ecological liminal space of the bush (Table 26.2, column 4), I have moved beyond my disorienting dilemma, traversed grief, and emerged from my bush cocoon, transformed as a fledgling Operation Flinders team leader at the age of 55 (Table 26.2, column 1). This is a waypoint worth noting considering only 9.7% of team leaders and 22% of assistant team leaders are female and their average age is 40 years (J. Kowalik, personal communication, 2 February 2016). I am grateful to be starting out in the profession of outdoor leadership when other women are struggling to sustain career longevity in this field (Wright & Gray, 2013, p. 12). I am feeling empowered as I blaze a new trail beyond the socially and personally imposed limits (Gray & Birrell, 2015, p. 207) of my world map. I have found a transformed, expanded (Mezirow, 2000), and emancipatory (Freire, 2000) way of being in this world without my beautiful boy who is no longer physically here. I am booked to lead my first Operation Flinders team in six weeks. “Proud of you mum!” (Buckley, 2010).