a bump in the road

Ouuuucchhh. I stopped in my tracks, trying to figure out what just happened. The small rock protruding from the otherwise soft dirt path looked up at me guiltily. I tried to wiggle my toe but it didn't budge. I could hardly stand to look at it oozing blood and puss. You'd think someone had thrown the rock and smashed my toe with it. But no. Just me walking and not paying great attention, apparently, to where I was going. (Yes I was barefoot and no I will not start wearing shoes).

I hobbled my way over to the stage. Because of course, this happened at a doof (here's your wikipedia definition: "a doof is an outdoor dance party generally held in a remote country area" -aka the bush of Australia) I suppose I was fortunate this one was extremely small so I didn't have to cover much ground on foot from camp to the dance floor. For a while, I tried my best to keep dancing. It was an awkward three limbed experience that ended up with me collapsing in a chair- right toes pulsing painfully, left leg shaking from effort. 

If you've never found yourself in the middle of nowhere with a group of a hundred or so strangers, spending your weekend dancing til you're soaked in sweat and completely covered in dirt, then you may just find this situation silly. Let this be your sign to go outside and dance and get dirty and love every second of it. But maybe try not to demolish your toe when you've still got two days to go. 

Now some events that are a bit more, shall we say marketed, would probably have a medical tent or at least someone around with medical supplies. But this was not that kind of party. So I slumped into the chair someone had conveniently left on the dance floor as if they knew I was coming and accepted my fate. Not only had I hurt my toe, it was likely going to get infected. Not great but worth it.

You'd be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't, if you've been there before) how many people will chat with you while you're sitting in a chair in the middle of the dance floor. It didn't take long to form my own emergency medical team. Someone in a funky purple hat with dreads down to his ass was running for some water while someone else in pink wings and glitter went to fetch me clean socks. Soon I had clean (ish) toes taped together incase I'd broken it and a singular clean white (not for very long) sock to protect it. And on top of that I had ten new friends who piggy backed me around the rest of the weekend.  I was really riding in style.

It may seem a small thing, my toe. But I ended up having to quit my job because I couldn't get a shoe on it for over a week. But if I'm being honest, I was just waiting for an excuse to quit. Anyways, what I'm getting at was that the toe did indeed become a hinderance for me. I don't know if I broke it or not. I never went to the doctor. But I do know it didn't look right for quite a while. Thanks to my emergency medical team, it didn't get infected. I don't want to think about how much worse that would've been.

This is just a silly little reminder of the power of people when they are kind (and resourceful). I'll probably never see those people again but I also know I'll never forget them. One silly little accident can lead you to some pretty sweet places so long as you're willing to go along for the ride. Don't let a (literal in this case) bump in the road make you stop driving. Just keep on moving forward (or trying your best to, it's ok if you need to sit down) and see where you end up!