“We’re all just walking each other home.”
-Ram Dass
This blog is intended to explore not only a trip to Kenya but the terrain of experiencing a crossroads, a time in life when we can see The End at the bottom of the page but we cannot yet see where or how the next Once Upon A Time begins. It’s about adapting, reinventing or transforming our lives, both inner and outer, during times of transition. Stepping from a known path into thin air through a second (or third or fourth) career, marriage or partnership, life direction or VSO (very serious occurrence), like menopause or manopause, an illness or injury, births or deaths both figurative and literal.
Those periods when we are feeling our way towards a direction that is more about heart and instinct then about money, one size fits all conventional wisdom, or some amalgamation of demands and expectations that have ceased to serve and instead suck the joy and meaning out of us like hungry ghosts. Embarking on such a journey requires an exploration in the deep and sometimes dark pockets of the heart, mind, and body. It’s a path that insists on and also nurtures courage, vulnerability, creativity, and humility.
We are asked to seek rearranged priorities that are built on what really brings us joy and the not-to-be ignored need to do something that is meaningful and of service to a world larger than our kingdom of one or a few. To not be thrown off the scent with the myriad tasks of daily life that, like a pack of yapping miniature Doberman Pinchers, demand all of our time and attention. To expand our definitions of family and success and love. It takes a micro and a macro view, peeking around corners to catch glimpses of the beautifully, maddeningly, and inextricably connected universe.
That exploration can take us more deeply into right where we are now and it can take us to foreign lands and experiences. If we are paying attention, there are many roads that can lead us home to our hearts and to the next-right-thing.
What adventure of the spirit and perhaps of the body are you already on or ready to take and what is it calling you towards?
Beautiful, eloquent words Kari – I am behind you all the way – I attach here some wise words from James O’Dea the peace builder we are bringing to Victoria in September
‘For many of us, cultivating peace is a story of intense discovery as we begin to perceive the patterns of relatedness and connection we were previously blind to. Once we experience the potential for the social organism to function as a healthy, interdependent body, we begin to glimpse how the entire global body can some day function as one in a state of peace.’
Onwards and upwards explorers and peace builders – we blow wind into your sails! Love Penny
I’m sending you and Malc so much love and respect on this adventure. I’ll be following your every step. Please kiss a giraffe for me!