You have been called to go on a journey. In fact, we all have. But only the brave among us are willing to answer the call and take that first step on the path. Even when you ignore it, there is a voice inside of you asking for more, a yearning rising up deep within you beckoning for something greater.
Fortunately, each of us possesses innate abilities to undertake this journey and complete the quest. As daunting as the path appears, we have the power within us to traverse it and reap the rewards that it holds. We often forget our deep power to accomplish these feats, but if we pay attention, we find that life provides us with the wake up calls and nudges to spur us into action and guide us in the right direction.
Undertaking a Wilderness Walk requires us to embrace all aspects of life- love and fear, joy and grief, light and dark. There is no light without shadow nor comfort without pain; to avoid one is to lose the ability to experience the other. As long as we continue to flee from the darker aspects, we remain fearful, unseen and unfulfilled. As long as there are parts of ourselves that we cannot love and therefore hide from the world, we spend our lives running away and blinding ourselves to who we truly are.
Are You ready to stop running, hiding, and avoiding?
The Wilderness Walk is a portal into the dark and daunting places that hold the deepest treasures. Although the path is formidable, a Wilderness Walker does not have to undertake the journey alone. A tribe of travelers takes the journey together along similar terrain, bearing witness to one another’s challenges, victories and discoveries. Being seen by others in this way can allow the Wilderness Walker to feel loved and accepted in ways she or he never had dreamed possible, easing the way to deeper healing.
To experience true aliveness, you must be willing to undertake the journey through dark and unknown places to discover life’s true riches. We all come to the trailhead and hear the call of the road at some point in our lives. Step onto the path, and see where it leads.
Are you ready to go on a Wilderness Walk?
Something is shaking you up. Perhaps you’ve recently suffered a painful event or made a new inner discovery. You feel restless and sense that something unknown is rising up from deep within you. You are being called, but to what you don’t know. You have a persistent notion that something is missing, and you long to see what is out there for you. You no longer fit in your world. You have been peering over the edge for some time now, petrified to jump.
You recognize destructive patterns in your life, but fear keeps you stuck in them. You’ve lost your innate sense of purpose and worth. You vainly seek comfort and validation from others.
You pursue distractions, hoping to escape your most challenging emotions. But constantly running from yourself only perpetuates your fear. You feel lost, alone, and hungry for the courage and confidence to live a more meaningful life. You ache for a deeper understanding of your personal path and purpose. You are being called.
Everyone receives several calls to undertake the journey of true self-discovery, but most of these calls go unanswered. Not everyone is ready to choose the adventure, to delve into unknown territory and face whatever trials and perils await. Hazarding the journey means delving into the shadows, unearthing hidden dangers and embracing the darkness within ourselves before we can fully experience the light. It means looking inward with honesty and acknowledging all that we see. When we have spent years learning to mask uncomfortable or unseen parts of ourselves, the unmasking of them is terrifying. Only through a willingness to face the darkest aspects of ourselves, however, can we take the first steps of our journey. The choice is before you: Accept the quest or refuse it.
As alone as you feel, once you embark on the journey, you’ll find that you have powerful help. Mythic heroes who face seemingly insurmountable tasks always meet helpers along their journeys who are familiar with the path and can help them navigate it. So the walker meets seasoned travelers who share the wisdom and tools needed for the journey ahead. Those who have walked the path before understand well that we are all divine and worthy of love. On The Wilderness Walk, guides who have taken the journey before you will help you find your way as well as help you discover your own inner guide.
It is a dark and daunting path that leads away from the apparent safety of the life you know. You stand petrified at the threshold between your old life and this strange road. You dread leaving the comfort of the life you know, and you try desperately to turn away from the adventure and its unnamed dangers, but your torment is such that you know that to remain stuck in your current state is emotional death. Every breakthrough begins with a breakdown. Struggling for survival, a wiser part of you rises up and pushes you forcefully out the door.
Just as the classic hero is awakened from a mundane state of comfort by a call to adventure, so we all come to a point at which we can either choose to stifle the voice inside us crying for change or to pluck up the courage to take the journey that lies before us. We all have twenty seconds of insane courage within us, and we can use it to take that initial leap onto the dark path. The Wilderness Walk is for those who are ready to answer the call and undertake the journey to discover their deepest selves.
Once you embark upon the path, you will be confronted with what frightens you most, the very things from which you’ve been running and hiding. You will have help and support as you face these trials, however, and you will find that the fear in your mind is usually far greater than the reality. As you overcome these tests one by one, you will become stronger, and your courage for internal change will deepen. Your trials will teach you that you can face and survive anything.
Even after earning hard-won victories on the road of trials, your journey will not be at an end. Exhausted by your battles, you will wander the wilderness before finding your way home. This wild space is even darker and more frightening than the road. You will confront your deepest fears here. You will learn that no one can heal you; your wounds and pain are yours alone. Part of you will die in the wilderness, as it must be for new life to arise. Only in the quiet solitude of the wilderness will you be able to reap the true reward for your trials, as your darkest momentsÂ reveal your deepest truth.
Once you learn to see in the dark, you will no longer fear it. Having conquered the obstacles on the road of trials and braved the darkness of the wilderness, you will find your treasure, your true power, and begin your return home. As the phoenix rises from the ashes, so will you arise from death and darkness into the light of new life.
Unlike the dark path onto which you stepped at the beginning of your journey, the path home leads through increasing light. The shining treasure that you unearth in the dark will become part of you and transform you on a fundamental level. Just as a hero returning from the quest brings new power back to the mundane world, so you will embody new power and light.
The Wilderness Walk reveals deep truths about ourselves, our paths and our purpose. Embracing these truths will empower you to live boldly and joyfully and to lift those around you as well.
Just as each of us must undertake our own hero’s journey, so the world has its path to tread. On a planetary level, we face many crises that only a fundamental shift in consciousness can overcome. As a Wilderness Walker, you will gain the power and wisdom to transform the world. The world needs a healing revolution, and it begins with YOU.