Pathwalking 7
What IS pathwalking, specifically, anyhow?
It occurs to me that I haven’t yet explained what this is, and why I think it is so very important.
The Australian Aborigines use the term ‘Walkabout’ to denote an adolescent journey through the wilderness as a rite of passage. It has been borrowed in more common culture over the years to refer to a spiritual journey, often taking the form of some kind of physical adventure.
Pathwalking, as I call it, is taking the notion of this special journey – and applying it to day-to-day life.
Why? Because I have come to believe that life itself is a great big spiritual journey. But more than that – it is an adventure. Every day presents new possibility, new ideas, new notions. There are new people to meet, new things to be learned, new ideas to be discovered.
Trouble is – too many days are similar. We get stuck in this pattern – as mentioned previously – and that pattern winds up carrying us along. But worse than that, the pattern causes us to lose sight of aspirations, dreams, goals…and our own sense of self. And from this loss of sense of self, I think we find ourselves in the world as it is today.
What does that mean? To me, that means that we live in a world where people are content to be discontent. We live in a world where we are focused on the material, where we are constantly influenced by outside forces, and where we choose to give away our personal power. Why should we be accountable when the people we have placed in power over us are not? It is easier to cast the blame and seek the quickest, easiest solutions, rather than to take the time to learn who we are, and what we want for our lives.
If we lose consciousness of our path, we lose the ability to choose it. And we make the cycle a vicious one, with no way in or out, just a spiral further and further into the void. This, I believe, takes us further away from any control of our own destiny.
I believe that if we are more self aware, our lives can be greater. And greater can mean a great many different things to different people. But I think what we all want, when the day is done, is the same: To feel important. To feel empowered. To feel happy. To feel in control. Maybe, simply. TO FEEL.
The concept of pathwalking I am getting at is an attempt to do exactly this. To make choices, to observe not only where I WANT to go, but where I AM going. And, more importantly – to observe where I AM.
It is so very easy to get stuck in the past, or caught in the rush to achieve a goal or reach a specific outcome; but we ultimately become more lost than we would have thought possible, and the path loses all clarity.
I know that I am not alone in this thought. I am certainly not the only one seeking to walk my own path, my own way. And that is why I am presenting this weekly series, and sharing my thoughts on this process.
As mentioned in the beginning – this is somewhat selfish of me. I am placing this here in order to help remind myself of the path. But I hold the hope that, perhaps, in sharing this I am helping others seeking the same as I. And maybe, just maybe, if more of us are aware, and more of us are conscious of the choices that we make…maybe we can spread this further, and influence the world.
It’s not about money. It’s not about power. It is not about blame. It is not about intelligence. It is about choice. It is about empowerment. It is about making our own way, and not letting anyone else make it for us. It is about a healthy giving to the self, to make it better to give to others.
Pathwalking is about finding the path, really experiencing the here and now of it, and understanding that we have the ability to be in control of our own lives. It is the notion that there is truth in The Law of Attraction, the notion that Consciousness Creates Reality, or The Secret.
Why do I so vehemently believe this? Because I have seen it in action. Because I have experienced it first hand. Because I have done it. In the next entry to this series, I will tell you how.
This is the seventh entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Thank you for joining me.
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