Ever see the unreal?
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains brings a wild sight to revel in that confuses what you know. It turns a concept upside down. When you think of Dunes, you usually think of dry desserts and scorching, baking hot sand. Hidden in this gem, is a major National Park - Great Sand Dunes National Park, that is.
The sand dunes formed from rock eroded in the mountains, carried by water. Once the water drained, prevailing winds swept the sand into large dunes.
The jaw dropping, mind blowing sight leaves you speechless in beauty of something unseen. Giant sand dunes with snow covered mountains in the backdrop. And, no, it's not an AI creation.
What makes this place truly special is that in late spring, the snow begins to melt forming Medano Creek where adults and kids come to play in the cool, crisp water with an amazing backdrop.
The Great Sand Dunes formed a rare combination of mountains, ancient water, wind, and containment. This brief seasonal window showcases how the stored energy of snow moves through unstable terrain forming small channels of water through the sand.
For neurodivergent leaders, this is what happens when you're under high input. You've been highly perceptive, seen the patterns, yet now the conditions are shifting. The temperatures are warmign and something is ready to move.
Stored pent up energy begins to move.
Not a finished strategy.
Not as certainty.
This may arrive as sensitivity, irritation or something is off.
The issue is not the internal energy is wrong. The issue is the terrain is unstable.
The Dunes reflect our external environment, changing priorities, relational dynamics, and sensory load that carries consequences.
The Snowmelt is internal intelligence, pattern recognition, strategic timing, and emotional truth.
The creek is discernment, the process of giving the energy a clear channel to move without flooding the system.
Neurodivergent leaders are rarely confused because there is not clarity. Neurodivergent leaders become overwhelmed because too much energy input arrives before there is a clean channel for it.
The work is not to suppress the water.
The real work is?
What is the true inner energy?
What needs a bank, boundary or decision container?
This week's Applied DiscernmentTM, ask:
What is the real decision beneath the volume of input?
When our terrain shifts, our multiple input streams require a clean channel to be formed for decisive trusted outcomes.
This gives the structure that puts the decision into motion.
© 2026. Lora Lapiz. All Rights Reserved.
