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My dear friend Jeremy would probably grumble at my attempt to process this journey or even advertise it any way. In his words, “You’re going up the mountain, that’s all you need to know!”
Despite of this, I write this to hopefully inspire others to take this step out of the boundaries of physical and metaphysical endurance we set for ourselves in our daily survival.
Bill Plotkin, author of Soulcraft describes the vision quest as a wilderness fast. This may add an extra dimension to what is to be undertaken. For me what becomes apparent from this label is that you are letting go of the attachment and security that food, shelter, comfort etc offers. The purpose of this letting go is to allow new things to take their place. The vision quest is aptly named as for many ‘Sitters’ an altered state of consciousness creates a hypersensitive state where a song from a bird, a drop of dew or the light from the moon could allow a profound shift in thinking or a message to assist the sitter in their life when they come back down from the mountain.
Plotkin in ‘SoulCraft’ describes that during various archetypal stages of life that we progress through, we experience and we learn. However sometimes life throws us a challenge that we feel we don’t have the capacity to process. Some people buy a Porsche, get a divorce, get a haircut, see a therapist, go on holiday, quit their job or quit their life to find meaning and/or excitement. They seek answers to big questions such as, “Why me?”,”Who am I?”, “What now?”, “What is my purpose?”
For me the questions came thick and fast when my father passed on. In the raw state of witnessing the transition of a life force from this earthly domain, I was confronted with questioning my own life. Was it the life that I really wanted to be living?
Was I fulfilling my purpose?
Was I fulfilling anything?
Or was I just on autopilot? (Wake, eat, commute, work, commute, eat, Sleep, repeat.)
So I pushed the reset button on my life. I wanted adventure, I wanted to uncover mysteries and I wanted wonder and magic again in my life. From that moment of realisation I noticed the synchronicity of the word Pilgrim coming often into my existence. A pilgrimage is a healing journey. I didn’t have the funds or energy to walk the Camino but with an intention of starting a pilgrimage, I put one step forward into the abyss and became a pilgrim in our modern world. You wouldn’t know it from looking at me I don’t wear a symbol or wave a flag. I just began to live with purpose and mindfulness. With this intention the magic began...
It was amazing to see the theme of 'Quest' emerging in the film "Eat, Pray, Love". I will share this with you to inspire your own journeys of discovering and remembering of who you are.
“…I’ve come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call “The Physics of The Quest” – a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: “If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared – most of all – to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself….then truth will not be withheld from you.” Or so I’ve come to believe.”
Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray Love
So yes, I have begun a focussed Vision Quest journey, but I have noticed that really, just by giving myself an intention of opening up my world to learn for myself, my communities and my planet, I am finding myself meeting amazing people, having amazing adventures and having my mind and heart expanded on many occasion. One step at a time, “Three eyes smiling”, “Three eyes opened”!
Let the wonder and magic continue.
It started with just one step.
