“She is without any need to please, any need to act, or look, or be a certain way. It’s as if she’s done with that, and rests now in the solid center of herself, having arrived at her own condensed truth. She is herself. And that is all.” (Sue Monk Kidd, Ann Kidd Traveling with Pomegranates)
“As far as I’m concerned, people who think they fear failure have got it wrong. They really fear success. If you truly feared failure, you’d be very successful.” (Barbara Sher, I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What it Was.)
The journey I began when I first started writing this blog has taken me in surprising directions, and I am still travelling. I’m not just talking about the physical realities of my journey, with moves from Colorado to Kansas to Massachusetts including stops and pauses along the way: Okoboji, IA; Seattle, WA; Lexington, KY; Slovakia. These, of course, are part of my journey, but my inner journey has traversed millions and millions of miles and I am only beginning to discover what it all means.
Yesterday, as I was spending a relaxing day hanging out with Sarah in a bookstore, I found myself journaling in response to a prompt in Barbara Sher’s book. While I haven’t done all the activities she suggests, I have been reading a lot of books like her in the hopes that I could clarify for myself what goals and dreams I truly want to embrace. As I wrote in my journal yesterday, I came one step closer to my truth, even though I can’t label it with a traditional sounding career name.
Actually, I’m not even sure I’m ready to put this into words. So instead I will fill today’s post with a few images that, added all together, somehow represent the me that I am on my way to becoming.
Black Virgin of Rocamadour
Goddess Grants the Rebirth of Japan
The journey has just begun, where will it lead?
Feb 20, 2012 @ 11:21:16
Oh God I wish I could answer this question for me! Where will it lead!? I am looking. I might be sitting here drinking coffee while I am looking, but I am looking. Lisa I look forward to reading your journey as I am writing my way to mine. I hope we are both successful in our endeavors! Ever in prayers to that end.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 11:24:27
Writing is obviously a part of both our journeys, which is both exhilerating and terrifying. I am going to try to focus on enjoying the journey.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 11:29:31
I sometimes think that if we knew where we were going, we would refuse to go. I sometimes think that if we knew where we were going on our ourney, it would spoil the surprise. I sometimes think that if we knew where we were going, we might see we’re going round and round, or backward instead of forward. The mystery and the wonder of not knowing is in place so that we are willing to search, feel, go deeper to not miss a single step on the way. I sometimes think the purpose of the journey is to look back to see where we’ve been. But open your eyes, my sister: you are not walking alone. We journey together. We look for what’s ahead in the mist. We encourage each other in the dark.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 11:35:44
I think you are so right. It really is about the journey, not the destination. For me it is becoming about the connections I make and the people I help and touch along the way. It is about the words and stories and creations I share. It is about looking back on my life and saying I truly lived, with all the messiness that entails.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 11:53:32
Interesting post. Made me think. I’m 65 years old now. In late December when I was doing my clean and clean-out for the new year ritual, I gazed at a tee shirt I was hesitating to throw out. It had a hole in one shoulder and stains acquired over the years since it was bought in summer 1992. “You have permission to throw this out,” I whispered before tossing it the garbage, but with the feeling I was saying goodbye forever to a good friend. In a sense it was, it had gone through several moves and many experiences with me. But it was part of the past and no longer useful and, in a sense, a new year marks the end of the past and the beginning of the future, so it was time for it to go. Life is a constant state of transition – that’s if you’re really living.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 11:59:35
J.P., my recent moves have forced me to let go of many things that represent my life, although I still cling to some. But, if we can learn to embrace the memory and the journey, than all is good. I completely relate to the feeling of saying goodbye to good friends in the form of t-shirts. My life is in such a constant state of flux, I have had a hard time keeping my feet on the ground, but I feel like I’m finding my way to a solid foundation while still living. It is exciting. It is terrifying. It is an adventure.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 14:23:15
Wherever we’re going, Lisa, I know the journey will be a blast.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 15:41:33
‘m just glad I have interesting people on the journey with me.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 14:39:23
I like on take on success and failure. I think you’re right.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 15:40:41
It is helping me look at myself and my goals from a different perspective, which can only help.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 15:13:47
It will lead to your heart, my friend, deep inside, where the magic is!
Hugs,
Kathy
Feb 20, 2012 @ 15:40:02
I hope so, but it scares me a little to have some dark tunnels to go through before I get there.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 15:45:50
I KNOW how you feel! I know those dark places. I’ve been there. We learn to feel in the dark, my friend. Hugs to you———-
Feb 20, 2012 @ 17:25:26
The simple truth of the matter is if we focus too much on WHERE we are going we will miss all the experiences along the way. The WHERE will always be there, and we will all eventually get there. But most of the fun is what we find as we journey towards it. Just think. If we could suddenly arrive at our destination with the snap of a finger … then what? What memories would we have? What would we have learned? What thrill of life would remain? A new destination? Embrace the journey! That is the essence of life!!
Feb 21, 2012 @ 09:49:24
Sometimes, in our goal oriented society, it is hard to find the way forward without having the destination in mind. However, I no longer want to function that way, as there lies the sense of failure if the goal isn’t what you envision. If, however, the journey is the goal then every day is a successful day as long as you live it.
Feb 21, 2012 @ 12:21:07
Well said!! Again!!
Feb 26, 2012 @ 19:49:29
I couldn’t agree with you more, Taochild! It is indeed about the journey, not merely the destination.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 18:06:34
A lovely eclectic series of photos there Lisa. I think that is a great representation of where you are at the moment – on an exciting journey!
Feb 21, 2012 @ 09:47:28
I’m definitely in an eclectic moment of my life, that’s for sure. Every moment my brain switches to something else.
Feb 26, 2012 @ 19:47:05
I just happened onto your blog, and am very glad I did. I can relate to your seeking, your questing. My personal search led me to walk – first the fabled Camino in northern Spain, but then a more personal 5000-kilometer walk that took me through 13 countries and that needed 13 months. It was my response to 9/11 – that to create peace in the world, we must first create within ourselves. And I would carry that message to Jerusalem, my destination.
I could fill this entry with the details of this adventure, the kindness of strangers, the wisdom hidden in the difficulties… but perhaps the grandest lesson was that the journey was never about the destination (as you have pointed out). However, I needed the dream to launch me on the journey. I needed the idea of walking for peace to fire up my imagination, and get me to take that first step… which in the end brought me back to myself – my own inner self – forever enriched. There is a wonderful poem by Constatine Cavafy called “Ithaka”, which beautifully summarizes all of this. It’s too long to fit in here, but I’m sure you can find it online.
Thank you for sharing your journey, and allowing me to share mine.
Blessings,
Mony Dojeiji
Pilgrim, Seeker, Author.
Feb 26, 2012 @ 20:30:24
Wow, Mony, welcome to my blog. I am so honored to meet you. I just read ALONG THE TEMPLAR TRAIL that shares a similar pilgrimage to yours and was so impressed. I admire anyone who can do that, and who relishes the journey. I look forward to hearing more of your journey.
LIsa
Feb 27, 2012 @ 09:47:38
Hey Lisa! Thank you for your kind words. I’m always happy to meet a fellow seeker. It’s funny that you’ve just ready “Along the Templar Trail”. I’m in the middle of reading it as well, and know the author through various forums online. We’re reading each other’s books right now because we feel a certain kinship in how we see life, especially life being about the inner journey.
I would love to contribute to the dialogue here, and share experiences. I appreciate the invitation. Although our walk physically ended in Jerusalem, the lessons and the learning continue to this day. The writing process in itself was a great teacher – it forced me to really reflect and meditate on the deeper meaning of our experiences. I feel the transformation began during the walk, but the integration and the living of these truths occured (and still is occuring) afterwards. And writing was an integral part of getting to that place of understanding, of looking beyond the experience to the teaching behind it, and then (for me personally) finding the courage to speak about all of it.
So I encourage you, dear Lisa, to keep writing, because it’s in the process of reflection and “struggling” with ideas that your personal truth and wisdom emerges.
Thank you again!
Love,
Mony
Author, “Walking for Peace, an inner journey”
http://www.walkingforpeace.com
Feb 29, 2012 @ 17:06:29
Thanks Mony, I am definitely loving the learning that comes from writing as my adventures take on new dimensions through reflection. It’s is so powerful.