Moving to Asheville from Sedona: My Honest First Impressions (Plus the Black Bear That Greeted Me From 10 Feet Away!)

The cozy cabin I stayed in for the month of June. Look at all that grass- we're definitely not in Sedona anymore!

After spending 10 years living in Sedona, Arizona, I recently moved to Asheville, North Carolina. These are my honest first impressions of Asheville, from the lush forests and warm humid Spring air to an unexpected black bear welcome I will never forget!

Upon arrival, I noticed my body taking involuntary deep breaths, regularly. Similar to how I feel when I'm standing at the ocean. When was the last time that happened? The sweet surrendered feeling of my nervous system recalibrating and regulating itself according to the heavenly calm that a thick forest offers as it wraps around you like a generous hug that lingers till you just melt. As a reiki practitioner I spend a lot of time helping other people regulate their nervous systems and reconnect with a sense of calm. Now it was my turn. Asheville was offering me that same healing before I had even unpacked my boxes.

I stood and looked around, my eyes feasting on all the new varieties of foliage. My ears delighted to hear nature sounds from sun up to sun down. Though I will admit my first night here I tried to sleep with the windows open but I couldn't! My daughter agreed with me that the bugs sounded like incessant tire screeching...so we closed them. I'm used to the super quiet desert. You get used to it I'm told.

Don’t even get me started on the skies here. The clouds are so creative and ever changing. The Sun comes out to kiss your skin with welcomed warmth, then retreats behind her puffy chambers of solitude. Long slow pink sunsets. After 10 grueling years in the Southwest, I traded hot dry barren landscapes with the bullying sun draining all my energy and turning me in to a lizard... for a new, lush, unbelievable sense of how life affirming and supportive the terrain feels here. I was being put under a spell of 50 shades of green.  The morning dew, the afternoon light rain, the humid air here feels fresh and restoring. I also traded scorpions and snakes for black bears and fireflies! I’d do that trade any day.

Upon my first day of arrival, driving through a quaint little hilly forested neighborhood I slammed on my breaks when I saw a black bear striding across the street right in front of my car! I gasped in shock! I had never seen a bear in my life, let alone 10 feet from me! I did what any excited idiot would do in the moment- I immediately whipped my phone out to record this phenomenon. It was pretty fast for a bear (what do I know) climbing up and over anything in it's way, moving in a straight line of sorts, unfazed by any obstacles from lawn to lawn like it was on a mission. I eventually started driving off but I didn’t make it very far before noticing a neighbor at the edge of her driveway getting her mail. I stopped and started talking to her from my already rolled down window. “Hey! Oh my gosh! I just saw a bear down the street!!! Has that EVER happened here before?! (as if an elephant had just escaped from the zoo and was now trampling the city, I know you’ve seen the videos) “Oh yes, usually on garbage days” she said so matter of fact, with a casual smile. As if I had asked if she ever sees squirrels around town. As if a bear was just a silly garbage day nuisance like javelinas are in the desert. It was a one minute conversation and we were already waving bye. No one back home is going to believe my real life wildlife safari drive -up close and personal with that powerful burly beast- good thing I caught it on camera! I went  to send the video to a close friend- nope! I must have fumbled the record button in my frantic haste. So goes life. That moment was just a personal fun wink and nudge from the Universe saying “welcome to Asheville! The bear pictured above is one I hired for reenactment. He did pretty good, huh?

I had another encounter that week that took my breath away in a similar fashion, but with a little less panic. Something I hadn’t experienced since my childhood family trips to New Jersey to visit distant relatives, and still to this day consider one of the most enchanting things in nature, maybe 2nd place to flowers. The most whimsical delight that mesmerizes me, like I’m in a fairytale setting. I was getting out of the car on a drizzly night, in my typical “bag lady” fashion carrying “all the things” in to the house. An ambush of twinkling caught my eyes. I looked up and around and I didn’t just drop my jaw, I dropped my bags. Right there, right then. HUNDREDS of fireflies popping off like popcorn in the night sky surrounding me in every direction. Slowly flashing on and off. I did what every sensitive, sentimental and emotional person would do. I squealed and laughed out loud and cried Instant tears of joy with wonder and awestruck surprise! I forgot fireflies were even a thing! I came inside the house and asked my friend who lives here if she knew there were fireflies outside and if I had just witnessed some uncommon miracle (as if it was a one time migration or something) and she said “Yea, they’re pretty much always there in the warmer months” again unfazed as if I was asking about her ever seeing mosquitoes .

Just some of the extraordinary everyday things you might come across in Asheville…

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/cf842c_10dd91f3fcee49eaba4350e712f2edb4/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

"The Greenway" it's called (for good reason)- bike trail in my new hood!

One thing is true every time I move (it’s been at least 20 times in my adult life!) I CRY. Even if the move was my choice, even if the move is going smoothly, even if everything is fine. I have like one big ugly cry from overwhelm and then it’s done. Except when I first moved to college from Buffalo, New York to Miami Florida I cried for two weeks straight. But that’s just because it was my first time moving away from home.

Anyways, the move to Asheville was no exception. Within 24 hours of arriving, I had seen the black bear, (and also an ice cream truck! With the music and everything. I didn’t know those were still around…how fun) secured a new apartment in Asheville's historic Montford neighborhood, one of the most walkable and charming areas of the city AND found my new downtown Asheville reiki office which somehow checked every box of what I was looking for! Woah. It’s like Asheville was just waiting for me to get here! I’ve never had things manifest so rapidly in my life. My hands in my face, sitting on the edge of the bed at the Airbnb, I sobbed. Tears of joy and tears of shock. It took a lot of faith, hope, and trust for me to pick up everything and drive across the country to make my dreams a reality. I came here with virtually no plan and things were unfolding quicker than I could’ve imagined. I am beyond grateful and so happy to be here. I believe the Universe rewards those who takes risks. Not just me, but all you magical risk takers out there! Is this a sign for you...?

If your're visiting Asheville, or you're just lucky enough to call these beautiful mountains your home, I hope you'll take time to slow down and notice the little moments that make this place so magical. Whether that's spotting a black bear, watching fireflies dance at dusk (that's their favorite time to be out, I learned) or simply giving yourself permission to breathe.

Christie Campbell is the owner of Harmony Reiki, a reiki practice in downtown Asheville, NC, offering reiki sessions, couple's sessions, group experiences, and reiki clases. She writes about healing, personal growth, and life in the Blue Ridge Mountains.