Planting the seeds of possibility
The Semita Project
sēmita - narrow way, footpath, path
Video interview at bottom of article
This week I sat down with Tyler Wood of the startup nonprofit organization The Semita Project. Tyler started out wanting to help others and the project has evolved into something personal, helping teens that were just like him growing up. Coming from a family that was below the poverty line, Tyler was given the opportunity to have a per chance mentorship with the owner of a construction company that changed his outlook on life and pushed him to strive for more. The Semita Project works to take teens in poverty and place them in a mentorship program for a summer in the Wood River valley. During their mentorship they will have a home life sponsor, employment sponsor and a recreational sponsor along with a mental health therapist and financial coach. Tyler and I dive into the relationship of each of these sponsors and how they hope to change the trajectory of the life path each of the teens are on. Their goal is through immersion and mentorship, they will provide the guidance and resources necessary to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
Before Tyler spent a summer away from his transient lifestyle, he had no idea what structure or reliability meant. Having food on the table every night and a bed to sleep in was completely foreign to him and an eye opening experience. In the interview he talks about how having some form of structure for even just a summer changed his outlook on life and made him realized there was more out there for him to achieve. His story is truly amazing and I am in awe of how someone can be so resilient and pull themselves up from such a rough beginning.
One of the things I have been working on recently with my therapist is visualizing my younger self in times of great emotional pain or distress to help acknowledge and understand that person inside of me. Instead of pushing that pain and emotions further down, I accept myself for who I was then and tell myself what I think I needed to hear in that moment. Usually it’s anything from “everything turned out okay” to “love yourself” to visualizing giving myself a hug (I’m a big physical touch gal and a very visual person haha). But I find this extremely freeing and healing to acknowledge how much pain I was in and to realize how far I have come from being that person. Tyler and I discuss this and how the creation of The Semita Project is healing his younger self and what it means to him personally to create a project that is helping teens escape their predetermined path. I believe that part of healing past trauma is putting ourselves out there and helping or inspiring others. I felt really inspired talking with Tyler about his life and this project and hope you do too! Tyler and I could not be more opposite in our life views from politics, religion and everything in between but the fact that we can sit down together and be vulnerable I think is really special and important. My hope is that in a time where things seem so opposite we can remember how truly alike we all are. It takes courage to put yourself out there but I believe that when you do amazing things can happen. I wish Tyler success in his journey and if you feel moved to help out in any way please visit his website thesemitaproject.org.
My final note is to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and take a risk that is true to your values and heart. You never what might come out of it. :) Enjoy the video link below!
What I’m grooving to this week…
Book: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (second time reading it this year and can’t recommend it enough)
Podcasts: Stanford GSB: View From the Top
Album: Mystery to Me By Fleetwood Mac
Designer: Faulkner Architects
Hotel: Finca Serena Mallorca in Montuiri Spain
