I like my clients to know something about me. I wrote these words part-way through a 175-mile trek through the desert and Gila River canyon in New Mexico in May 2018. This expresses a lot about why I carve out time to rise early and hike long distances each year. There are many metaphors on the trail for what we need to know about life. Enjoy!
• Water is precious.
Take care of what sustains you — your water of life. Never assume it will be there without your care.
• Check your direction before you head out.
Run your choice by someone whose opinion you respect.
• Watch your step, but also remember to look up.
There may be snakes on the trail, but there is more beauty than danger. Don’t miss the beauty because of fear or the distraction of a schedule.
• Carry what you need and no more.
Weigh carefully, even skeptically, suggestions for what more you should take with you. Carrying what you don’t need just weighs you down.
• Rest the body that makes this experience possible, and take time to reflect on what you’ve seen.
The body you are working hard needs rest. Your experience benefits from not rushing. Taking the experience into your self requires reflection.
• Stuff happens that’s unexpected – so be flexible, practice gratitude, be open to manifestations of a Divine Source that you didn’t anticipate, and remember to laugh.
• Other beings have traveled this trail and others are with you now. You are never completely alone.
They leave behind reminders of their passage. Be open to experiencing their spirit in the places they passed through.
• Savor the stories you encounter — stories of people, and of animals and nature.
You would not have experienced these were you not present here.
• Experience the fluidity of time. The true nature of time is not divided into days, hours, minutes, or seconds, and time doesn’t create beauty that way. As the divisions of time slip away, bring in this fluid aspect of what the Creator, the timeless Origin, has done.
• Parched desolation and rich beauty are both part of the experience.
Be present for both. Valleys are defined by the mountains that surround them. Deserts and river canyons are both part of the trail and life. You have within you the ability to move through both with strength and grace.
© 2018 Diane Gansauer, Lyrical Life Ceremonies