Guest Speaker: Shayla “Kiddo” Paradeis: Emily Tucker

Shayla "Kiddo" Paradeis had a background in musical theatre, yet she ended up taking multiple long-distance hikes and changing the course of her entire life. 


After graduating with a major in musical theatre in Manhattan, Kiddo talked about how she knew she wanted to "get away" from that life, where it seemed everyone expected something out of her, and she always felt like she was being yelled at. She ended up going to Glacier National Park in Montana where she developed a love for the wilderness. From there she began to do a lot of hiking, and in 2011 at 24 years old, she decided she was going to hike the Appalachian Trail -- 2,181 miles long.


She described how she thought that if she went to the woods, she would find peace. There, she thought, no one would yell at her. There are no expectations in the wilderness. What she didn't realize at the time, was that she could "yell at" herself.  Going on this hike on the Appalachian made her realize that a lot of the pressure of expectation was put on her by her own mind. She was constantly pushing harder, challenging herself, and trying to prove something. 


When she returned home, she was overcome with the question of "What now?" She began to journal to make sense of her thoughts and feelings (to assign meaning to them). And discovered in what she titled "Reflections" that this experience on the Appalachian trail helped her learn bravery and gave her a deep connection to a new "family" of people she had never even met before. This experience changed her life despite it not meeting the expectations she had for it. 


In 2013, she decided to go on another long-distance hike, this time to the Pacific Crest Trail-- 2,665 miles. In 2015, she hiked the Continental Divide Trail, an unestablished route at the time which presented many challenges and dangers along the way. She defined this trail as her Saturn Return. She developed immense emotions and a deeper connection to nature that she hadn't experienced before. IT made her question, "Am I doing what truly resonates with me?" 


By 28 she had completed three major trails in the US and decided to go to New Zealand. She hiked from Cape Reinga to the Bluff (3000 Kilometers/1800 miles). She explained how she wanted to walk until there was nowhere left to step.


After returning to the US, she walked the Appalachian trail once again in 2021. Each trail presented its own unique challenges and taught her something new about herself. Each hike honed her spiritual practice a little bit more. She was even invited to the Peace Day Ceremony in Hiroshima.


My main takeaway from Kiddo was her struggle with expectation. What she thought was coming from others, she realized it was also coming from within herself. It is so easy especially with the transactional nature of the world around us to be stuck under the pressure of always needing to meet people's expectations for our lives. Kiddo ran to the wilderness with hopes of escaping expectation to find out she had placed these expectations on herself. Spiritual walking and long-distance hiking helped Kiddo alter the course of her life to something that truly resonated with herself where she was able to learn grace, not only for other people, but for herself.



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