It is so powerful to see the world and feel the different energies of the earth in different places, to meet the people and see the culture, so rich with beauty.
The facets of this journey are many. As I spent just a night in Cusco at 11,000 feet, with elevation sickness, reflecting on the fullness of this diverse country and what it has shown me…
A few days ago, I was in the jungle southwest of Nauta, on the banks of the Maranon River that meets the great Amazon just 40 miles down river. I spent five days in solitude, in the deep jungle, living in an austere hut, on a simple diet with plant medicines. A Shipibo medicine woman (maestra) was guiding me through many layers of healing in my body, mind and spirit. This way of life was a deep metamorphosis. The jungle was alive, protecting and communicating with me, healing me on levels many of us do not experience anymore. I have seen more light than I’ve ever seen before, more clarity of connection and union than I’ve ever experienced. The plants showed me the power of my own heart, the power of my own light, and to love means to transform the darkest fear and discomfort into the brightest rainbow light. They showed me light workers healing my body and protecting me, offering me sanctuary. The massive contrast of the darkness and mystery of the Amazonian jungle, with the influx and upgrade of divine energy was profoundly transformative. The lessons of shadow and love that were revealed to me are potent with the nature of the feminine, flowing and graceful, a fierce transmutation.
My prayers for wholeness and courage continued as I traveled through the Sacred Valley to Aguas Caliente and on to Manchu Pichu, and then back to Cusco. The tests of life and travel alone threw me into waves of stories and darkness, and back into the affirmations of my truth and power. To have met such light and opportunity for expansion, yet to only find that stories of our past will create our own suffering for ourselves and those we love, I am finding integration and acceptance a beautiful part of existence on this planet.
As I climbed the thousands of stairs at Manchu Pichu, I was transported back into the ancient and mysterious energies of the people who built the massive sacred site. Profound ancient intuition, viscerally dreaming the steps of those that lived and built the ominous site, those that understood and embodied the earth energies present in those mountains, those that left evidence of a time, perhaps very different from our own.
I begin with me. I walk this earth with light and humble footsteps, I walk in beauty and in awe of the vastness and divinity, to discover such light without the attachment of outcome… for pureness of experience. And in hopes to share the gifts of the journey with others that would be served, I lay down my fears and walk alone thru a new countryside, in trust that I am safe and even better supported. As the people show up to help me along, as the places to rest my head appear, as the blessed meals are put before me, as the sacred medicine of the plants is shared with me, profound faith is affirmed and enlightened into the collective through this naturally simple experience.
To be away from western culture is so relieving… as I scrolled fb from Peru, after being away from the internet for some time, many people’s posts seemed small in comparison to life in other countries. There is a degree of “chill” in these places I’ve visited, Peru and places in Africa, that allow me to relax in a way I have difficulty with in the states. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect, uniform, in the right place, clean, on time, pretty, trimmed… Everything is perfect without the extra concern and stress. There are more important things to focus on: love and beauty in humanity being one, being kind and considerate of the other, the divinity and immense beauty of the natural world, and of the inherent flow of life.
My return home was emotional and intense to say the least; layover thru Florida in the midst of an exodus evacuation due to impending Irma… hearing of a death in the family, I feel the deep surge of humanities light in pulling together, in lifting one another and laughing despite?dire circumstances, and I mourn a great pain in my heart. We are one planet and this planet isn’t well, which means we aren’t well. I choose to start with me, to regain clarity in the importance of the presence, joy, and love.
How does this apply to my work?
“Myths are the world’s dreams. They are archetypal dreams and deal with great human problems. Myths and dreams come from the same place. They come from realizations of some kind that then have to find expression in symbolic form.” (Joseph Campbell)
Travel opens us to the myth of each place we visit, if we are open to receive its stories, sometimes through the land, sometimes through the relics of ancient peoples, carrying on their stories. My longing has been wanting to give my eyes, ears, and nose to others, in a sense, to share my full experiences and intuitions of this journey. The profound unraveling of wisdom that travel imparts activates me towards the strong desire to contribute, to uplift, and share. May my work be my eyes, ears, and nose, may my work be my inherent intuition and vision, may my work invoke the memory of my experiences and the beauty of the world to be shared and honored with all.
Many layers of the venture and acquaintanceship of travel are indescribable. They are profound and throw you into a flow whether you desire it or not, the details are not up to you. Travel offers you a way back into your body, back into your spirit and into your power, without demanding, but presenting clear choice of opening or closing… So in best spirits, I venture on, through ancient ruins and realms of the unknown, to trust in the universe and its messages of transcendence and mystery, its messages of healing and love.
