What is my Path?
What is my path? What direction should I be taking in my life right now? As I’m walking through the woods, I’m so caught up in my thoughts about this that I barely notice where I am. I do realize I am blessed to have found my vocation early in life - being a healing practitioner fulfills my sense of purpose. But with relocating and re-establishing my practice last year, I am again looking closely again at what I do and where I put my focus. Who are the clients who get the most from my work? How can I find them? Should I spend more time teaching? What is the right next step for me to take? What is my path?
It’s a question that is close to the heart of many of my clients. Many of us who seek that answer get frustrated because we want to see the end result. How will I know which way to go, if I can’t see where it will take me? The truth is, we don’t get to know that now. Anne Lamott says it well in her advice about writing, “[It’s] ‘like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.’ You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you.”
Our only option is to be fully present here and now. To listen to our bodies and our hearts about which ways we are drawn, which path feels good for now. For me, healing and teaching are the heart of my calling.
As I come to awareness of the present, the swirling thoughts stop for a minute, and I am present in the woods where I am walking. I suddenly hear the orchestra of birdsong that has been surrounding me without me even hearing a note. The purple flowers in the treetop above are sending down a sweet and spicy scent. And there is green all around me - I love this! The nourishment of walking in a green forest is part of why I moved back to this area. And so I step forward on my path, after snapping this picture. I am feeling my way, and appreciating the experience as I go.