For the first time in years, I went on a proper backpacking trip and disconnected completely for a week. Maile's studio was putting on a retreat in Yosemite, and I had the good fortune of being able to tag along (I was also the van driver!) with her and the students.

From Monday morning through Saturday afternoon I completely disconnected from the internet, my mobile phone, and even my children. It was Maile, myself, 8 students and 2 guides.

It was heaven.

We did yoga, swam in the streams, day hiked, sat around the campfire, ate good food and had an entire week where the mind was freed from just about all the cognitive load that comes with daily life. During the course of said wonderfulness, I had a conversation with one of the guides who was a very kind man named Jesse. I pondered something about how we could take the lessons from this beautiful land and make it relevant in our homes and our day to day lives.

Jesse's response was great: "It's all just construction."

It really struck a chord with me. As hard as we might try to separate ourselves from the laws of nature, the earth and anything that might get us dirty, in the end, it's all just construction.

What's interesting is when you look at things like this, you start to see a lot of other kinds of construction. Not necessarily good, not necessarily bad, but something interesting to notice. Our financial system is a form of construction, businesses are construction, our legal system and even to a certain extent our relationships.

Maybe only be taking a step back to see the construction can we see something a little bit deeper and more meaningful, whatever the context might be.