A few hours outside of Shangri-La in Yunnan province, China, there’s a trail going from a small Kham Tibetan village up to a high altitude plateau. I’ve hiked that trail 6 times since 2010, only missing one year in 2012 because my second daughter was born that summer. This trail has become so familiar to me and it is my favorite place in all of China. Following this trail from village to plateau, you ascend more than 4,000 vertical feet, ending at an altitude of about 14,200 ft. It is a very rigorous hike when you live at sea level year round. But, it is on this trail each year that I’ve gained an ability to experience my physical and spiritual existence as a single existence—one in the same. I don’t separate the two when I’m hiking this trail. And despite being such a rigorous and challenging environment, it is also the place where I’ve felt more alive—more aware of and in tune with my heart, soul, mind, and body. And in that annual surrounding, I commune with God in ways I just don’t or can’t when living in the big city.
South of the Clouds is a song documenting my internal dialogue as I hiked that trail—the battle against my self-sabotaging phrases, self-limiting beliefs, paralyzing self-doubts and insecurities—the mountains of shame and guilt I know I need to climb in order to be free to continue this journey I’m on.
So, when I just need to start over, be reminded of who I truly am, and rekindle the fire in my soul . . . I go to Yunnan . . . south of the clouds.