Moving Forward in Life

To move forward in life with a pilgrim heart and mind...

“At its heart, the journey of each life is a pilgrimage, through unforeseen sacred places that enrich and enlarge the soul…”  - John O’Donohue

Dear Hearts,

I've been thinking about how different the world might be if we considered ourselves simply pilgrims who are created to walk here together for a limited time, who get to pass through this world before we are returned to the earth. Rather than what we mostly do now, walking and moving through the world as though the earth were our own. Often with an entitlement that in so many ways has been the seed of so much of the world’s sorrows. So, it’s made me wonder what it could mean to practice a pilgrim’s mindset, what would be at the forefront of our minds and spirits and how might our behaviors change if we imagined ourselves pilgrims passing through this world, as soul travelers given the gift of this human experience. For any pilgrim it is within the daily habits and ways of walking that transformation occurs. How a pilgrim journeys is so much about the mindset they set out with, how they respond to what they encounter, what habits and rituals they form, how open we are to change and challenge, and to showing and receiving hospitality. These are some of the vital elements that end up transforming the us along the journey of life, and I imagine that ends up determining a large part of our experiences. No matter our background, or current lifestyle, we all share this in common - the reality that all of us are just passing through the world. It is a journey that begins and ends for each and every single one of us.

So as the world keeps spinning, and we rock back and forth between despair and trying to practice hope, I've thinking about what happens when we shift our attention towards the daily walk of the journey.