Skip to main content

by Shaun Emerson

A couple of months ago, I went out hiking on my favorite trail in Palm Springs, the Museum Trail. I’ve taken this trek dozens of times over the last five years. On most of these hikes, I ascend for about 45 minutes and run my way down. On this day, about 30 minutes into the hike, I noticed a rattlesnake slithering in the desert grass to my left. Freaking out, I accelerated forward, already wondering what my plan would be on the way back down. Would it still be there when I returned?? In all my time on this trail and dozens of others, I had only encountered one rattler in my five years in the desert, and that was over three years ago. Maybe I was just lucky that I hadn’t had more incidents.

Well, another 10 minutes up the trail, I came across another one, coiled up and sleeping right in the middle of the path. WTF?? There was no way around this one, so I ended my climb and turned to descend, completely rattled (yes, pun intended). I couldn’t get off that mountain fast enough. And wouldn’t you know it, five minutes into my sprint down, I noticed a third one, dormant, lying in the shade on the right side of the trail. What is going on here??!! I eventually reached the trailhead without further incident but discombobulated. You see every time I go on this trail, in the back of my mind I’m thinking, is this the day I am going to run into a mountain lion, bobcat, coyote, or rattlesnake? All possibilities? Allegedly. Probabilities? Some certainly more likely than others. Now, I’ve had many encounters with the bighorn sheep that roam Mt. San Jacinto. Massive creatures. Once I turned a corner and basically walked into one that was only 10 feet away. I would gladly take the bighorns over snakes. Not on this day. On this day, probable became real.

On a day-to-day basis, I don’t really fear much. My big emotions are joy and sexual creative energy (a subject for a future post!). I do have this fear of animals and…the dark. Now that I think about it, it might the thought of animals in the dark that makes me jittery 🤷‍♂️. As I consider my fear, what most fascinates me is that most of it is based on the fabrications of my mind. I have this belief that something is out there, waiting for me, and when I encounter it, it will mess me up. As I type that sentence, it feels so irrational. But that’s the human condition, right??

Being in this connection business, I am wondering how our fear, our human condition, impacts our ability to be in relationship. Before we have even engaged, do we project how it’s all going to play out? Do we worry about what how others think about us or perceive us? Do we not engage, hide behind a false persona, or disengage completely because of those projections? If you don’t (or don’t most of the time), good for you. The reality is most of us are in our heads focused on our own shit anyways. If we let go of the projections and face the fear, there just may be some good things on the other side. And yet, I am telling you, the Rattlesnakes of Mt. San Jacinto may look like they slithering through the desert grass minding their own business, but they are really stalking me preparing to strike at any moment.

Meet Shaun Emerson

President • Board Member • Facilitator

For over twenty-five years, Shaun worked in the technology space, both as employee and as entrepreneur. He managed personnel and processes in sales, marketing, and operations. He started and led businesses in both the for-profit and the nonprofit sectors.

Leave a Reply