Journey.
Source: Google Images
By Jennifer Hartley
I’m preparing to embark on a road trip next week on my own, westward, to places I’ve never been, to spend time with people I’ve never met in person before. It’s a journey unfolding before my eyes, and no amount of planning and foresight can dictate precisely how it’s going to go. I’m delighted, somewhat fearful, curious, and amazed.
I’m really doing this; I’m going on an adventure.
This is how I say Yes: yes to being alive, yes to following my heart, yes to risk, yes to connection, yes! And yes, oh yes, to terra incognita, to the unmapped territories of other minds and hearts, to the landscapes that will roll out before me in whatever flora and geology they may have.
Source: Google Images
I had a vision a few months ago, of gathered friends and bonfires and music and laughter, and here it is, manifesting itself. Can you believe it? Can I?
I hear a refrain, over and over, from many of my friends, especially the far-flung ones: a deep desire to gather the tribe, to spend time in physical proximity, to feel the tangible warmth of hugs, to experience prolonged eye contact and body language and story-telling and bask like crazy in the sweetness of togetherness. We have quite a tribe.
What would you say if I told you it’s worth almost any risk, any scheduling conundrum, any herculean effort of time and expense just to show up for each other? I know all the reasons that come up not to do it. They are the same relentless reasons that keep us alienated and suffering in the most profound ways.
What if we reoriented our priorities?
What if we acted as if we truly believed that such connection is the basis of all healing in the world? Do you think it’s selfish to travel, to allocate the time and money needed to seek that physical presence, to burn fossil fuels (in all likelihood) in order to do so? Can you calculate the costs and the benefits, does it tally up in any measurable way?
I can’t measure it myself, but I know that my intuition guides me, and tells me that the benefit far outweighs the cost. Of course, this is not to dismiss real limitations of health, finances, etc. I’m suggesting that even with such challenges, there may be ways to work with them or around them.
Is there really anything more important, than this clarity about priorities? Specifically the overarching importance of human connection as a basic need — and let’s be honest, let’s grant it the sacred name of Love. The love we feel for our friends and families and lovers, the love that expands outwards to include every living being, how could we not orient ourselves to this, allow it to draw the maps of our journeys, to fuel our bodies striding purposefully, joyfully, into the vast unknown?
I have a compass, and I use it daily. You have one too. Look at it. See what it tells you. Draw upon your courage to tell someone else what you find there.
Me, I’m heading West.
*****
Jennifer Hartley is a thought-lobber and love-sower, living beyond the pale as much as possible, in deep hues of scarlet and gold. She writes, forages, gardens, homeschools her daughter, engages in radical activism, encourages others to claim their own authority, and pours out love in large, messy quantities. She lives in Western Massachusetts and in her own joyful, mortal body. Her blog can be perused here.
{Go West.}
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