Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Choices That Shape The Journey

What if life is not (as it sometimes feels it might be) like a maze- a confusing journey of dead ends, back-tracking and frightening minotaurs? What if it’s more like a labyrinth- a long and meandering path that has no traps or no hidden monsters, a journey that is destined to take us to the centre of it all?

Human beings are meaning-making creatures, and the language of soul is symbol. I know this, and yet I am always surprised when a well-placed metaphor works on my awareness, opens doors to new ways of seeing.

The metaphor of the maze and the labyrinth is one I recently read in an interview with Jungian analyst, Marion Woodman (in Spring 2009 edition of The Psychology of Violence journal,) Marion used it to explain the inner transformation that occurred when she received a diagnosis of cancer. Even after years of inner work, Marion realized that she had been treating her life as though it were a maze, the wounded part of her always on the alert for traps and minotaurs.

I’ve been playing with this metaphor every since, been noticing where I am behaving and thinking as if life is a maze- a problem or a puzzle to be solved. This approach creates a hyper-vigilance, anticipates a level of on-going threat, and is generally pretty exhausting. In contrast, I think of my experience of walking different labyrinths.

The first labyrinth I ever walked was at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. I was there for my first book tour and woke before dawn- a result of the time change and my nervousness about upcoming events. I felt sure no one would show up at the bookstores and, if by some miracle a few folks were there, couldn’t see why they’d want ME to sign a book, even if I had written it.

I dithered for awhile in my hotel room, but as the sun came up, I decided to go for a walk. According to my hotel guidebook, the cathedral was just up the street. The church wasn't yet open, but I discovered an outdoor labyrinth tucked behind a hedge on the church grounds. I’d done walking meditations before, so started to walk mindfully watching the movement of breath and muscle and bone, the feel of the ground beneath my feet, following the labyrinth’s markings.

The thing I remember most was the automatic expectation that arose the first time the path took me close to the center of the labyrinth: I thought I was near completion. But, of course the path meandered back to the outer edge over and over, and gradually I gave up guessing when the end would come, when the centre would be found and just focused on taking one step at a time. When I did reach the centre, I was walking and breathing slowly, basking in the early morning sun, and smiling from ear to ear. As I stood in the centre, listening to the sounds of the city waking up, gratitude for being there filled me to the tips of my fingers and toes.

I’ve walked many labyrinths since that day. Each walk is different and yet, always leads to the centre, always slows me down and brings me fully into the present moment. Life is indeed like a labyrinth- each of us taking a path that cannot always be seen in its entirety but will surely take us to the centre if we simply keep walking and opening. The quality of the journey is dependent upon the awareness we bring to each step, each turn in the road and whether or not we have faith- have not fallen into the illusion of fear that continually anticipates a tricky maze.

Herein lies a choice: to see life as maze or labyrinth, to cultivate fear or faith. Choosing the image of a labyrinth deepens my faith in Life, in the unfolding that takes us to the centre of being.  

Oriah (c) 2013

12 comments:

  1. So beautifully written and inspiring. I hope that this entry or one similar is included in your upcoming book The Choice.BrendaP

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    1. Thanks Brenda. Yes, since I'm working on the novel I've decided to let the weekly blogs be the beginnings of threads for The Choice book- and this is one. :-)

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  2. Thank you...now when I walk a labyrinth I will be able to feel the joy...not the frustration of the endlessness that I can often feel...

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    1. Well, it's okay to feel whatever arises- and to bring some gentle curiosity to it. If frustration and a sense of it being endless arises- that's just what is- and what happens if you are just with this, wondering where it comes from, where in your life something feels "endless"- wondering, is it true? Generally something feels endless because we are not wanting to be there (we rarely think, Oh this happiness I feel right now feels like it will be endless!) Consider- is there something that feels endless where there is some wiggle room, some level of choice to just say no to it, or to shorten it, or do it differently?

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  3. Thank you fro reminding me that too often I view my life in this way:

    "as if life is a maze- a problem or a puzzle to be solved. This approach creates a hyper-vigilance, anticipates a level of on-going threat, and is generally pretty exhausting."

    And it is so exhausting! I thank you for the reminder that too often I approach life from a place of fear. Lacking in trust that it is unfolding in the ways that it is supposed to. I am being presented things so that I can learn from whatever is in front of me. And as you beautifully wrote that:

    "the quality of the journey is dependent upon the awareness we bring to each step..."

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    1. Well, I do think the shift in how we approach life is less about will power and more about awareness- allowing our desire to be less fearful to guide us in watching how and where fear arises and holding it with compassion and that gentle curiosity, wondering where it comes from and why it arises; asking ourselves if there is anything to be fearful of in this moment; tending our fear as we would a screaming child so they can be eased.

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  4. Oriah,

    Thank you for a walk through the labyrinth. I had forgotten what is was like, but was crying as I reached the end. I used to walk the labyrinth at the Episcopal church in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Because your piece touched me, I sent your website to a friend who is struggling with many of the same things you have experienced. The cascades of fear from an abusive past still haunt her. Thanks for being our guide.

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    1. Fritz, sorry for the delay in posting your comment- somehow got lost in the shuffle. And thank you for sharing the blog. :-)

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  5. Thanks Oriah. I used to worry so much about the future, what lay ahead for me, whether I was making the right choices etc etc. Much peace has come from bringing my focus back into the present and to discerning the immediate next step. The image of the labyrinth is very helpful - when I've walked one, I've been so aware of the in/out movement of the apparent frustration of the desire to reach the centre - but by just going with the twists and turns I get there in the end!
    I've decided to try following and commenting on your posts on your blog rather than on FB because I've struggled with the hostile and sarcastic comments that one of my FB friends has made in response to some of your posts that I've liked or commented on. There's no way to stop her seeing them, and even if you take it as an inevitable risk of going public, I don't like her negativity to be aimed unthinkingly at you, even while understanding some of the life circumstances that have made her as she is.

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    1. Anne, happy to have you comment here :-) and so glad you found the image/idea of the labyrinth helpful. I continue to work with it myself and keep finding it unfolding within in me like. . . well, like a labyrinth!

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  6. Oriah
    I really like the contrast you share here. I have taken to walking a wonderful labyrinth just north of us on a very special property on Lake Simcoe. It reminds me of my expectations and need to figure out and then the release of 'who cares' just let the path take me. This is me bringing the maze into the labyrinth and then allowing the labyrinth to bring me back to ease.

    I am appreciative of yet another way of becoming aware of myself, something you are always so good at showing me...Abundant thanks + a hug!

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