When I was fifteen years old, I had the opportunity to take a two-week survival trip in the woods of Maine during late winter. The course ended with a three day solo experience in the woods, with minimal food and equipment.

The experience I had, led me to understand something profound about myself: being alone in the wilderness allowed me to truly find my center. Here is an excerpt from my journal documenting the trip.

March 11, 1976 "I hiked to the top of the ridge on my last day of the solo, and I looked back with a wave of emotion. I sat on a stump looking down the ridge towards where my shelter was. Then the sun came out and it shone on the new snow blanketing the trees.

I just sat there for about 20 minutes, breathless with all the beauty, and I felt really small and insignificant amongst all of the woods that surrounded me. I was so proud of what I had accomplished, but sad that the trip was over. I knew that I would always treasure this moment."

As I experienced at a young age, being in nature can have a tremendous impact on our psyche. The opportunity to shut off the outside world and focus inward can be a healing, rejuvenating, and empowering experience, especially for women who lead busy lives.

Women's Wilderness Retreats is a program that offers women the chance to experience the healing power of nature, the insight of mindfulness, and the supportive community of other women.

Join me on February 12th for an experiential program that will demonstrate the profound power of a wilderness experience. Through some fun interactive exercises you'll connect with others as you discover what's really important to you as you pursue your dreams.

Everyone will leave with a little piece of nature to remind them of what's important, and how to maintain intentions for keeping a balanced life.

Here is a poem by Cheryl Perreault, that emphasizes the importance of a dream called, "Dream."

It seems all murky to you what the path ahead is calling like an old, abandoned winter garden in the fog

You are at the crossroads once again when nothing seems quite clear on the horizon. And so you take a deep breath knowing this brings clarity You close your eyes in search breathing in, breathing out.

You are listening, waiting watching for the signs knowing patience is the key And suddenly it will happen.

The dream unfolds itself in light and radiance, unfurling just like the first flower comes to in spring Popping greenness through the brown earth Pointing head toward searing brilliance.

Shooting upward, stretching, uncurling and then, prompting you to squat down much closer, pay attention, to what it tells you now so clearly in the midst of this new garden that you see.

This is the path you didn't realize that has been waiting for you to look closely, to study, to contemplate its new direction to reach your hand out toward these new, fragrant promise blossoms of rebirth.

St. Valentine was a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single.

The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers.

The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail.

On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he wrote the first "valentine" himself, addressed to a young girl he identified as his beloved, as the jailer's daughter, whom he had befriended and healed.

It was a note that read "From your Valentine".

Love has been present through the ages. See if you can identify these famous couples.