Journey of the Soul
The journey of the soul can run the gamut from excruciatingly painful to boundless joy. Unfortunately we cannot have one without the other. Perhaps two sides of the same coin. One of my favorite authors, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, says that “all strong souls first go to hell before they do the healing of the world they come from.” What this implies is that our journey is dual focused: the first part being the journey to self-growth and healing and the second the healing we can support in others. What does that mean to each of us?
It seems to me that we must become more aware of the fact we are on journeys first. Anyone who is true to their own path of life experiences the “journey to hell” before the “journey to joy.” In mythological terms the hero frequently must descend to hell before passing through his or her rite of passage and ascending. Where are you in this cyclical process of life? What is the area in life you are struggling to deal with? Or the change in thought process you are confronting? The belief about yourself you are faced with undeniably this time? These are “ouch” moments. And unfortunately the “ouch” moments can last longer than the term “movement” implies. In my own life, in the lives of my clients, these ouch times come after a great deal of hard work and they cause one to embark on the next leg of the journey. New awareness leads to new pathways. This is part of the beauty of group therapy. In a group situation one meets others who are on a similar journey and they come together to encourage, confront, support, bind the wounds of the journey. The journey can feel quite lonely - group allows one to reach out and touch another, experience a sense of connection. This also happens in individual therapy, in friendship, in a shared experience of spirituality.
When one connects with others, one also connects more fully with oneself. New corners of self-awareness are lit up and can be seen. Away at school in June I learned about this personally once again. Even in classroom, study, and casual group settings I learned more about myself as I experienced other students and myself in relation to them. Sometimes it feels good, sometimes it challenges. But it takes us further along the journey.
What about the intense pain of loneliness and aloneness of the journey to hell? How does one deal with this? St. Therese Lisieux shares eloquently her experience of this in her journals published in the book translated by John Beevers, The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux: The Story of a Soul. It hurts, it causes pain, but the very pain one experiences here also heals. As Estes said above, one must go to hell before moving upward. When we run from the pain we stop the process. When we hide from the hurt, we avoid the next steps of the journey. It’s like coming to the next part of the journey and freezing as you look over the geography and realize, “oh my goodness, there is another valley to wade through before reaching the road that leads to the pinnacle.” Who wants to take the next step? Who wants to open one more “bag of worms” in the healing process? No one, generally, when we look only at the worms of the geography. It is in looking at the pinnacle we take the next step forward. It is in refocusing our view to the rainbow that we find the courage to walk through the monsoon in the valley. It is in fine-tuning our glimpse of the finish line that we find the courage to move ahead. One more time.
Where are you today? In the journey of your soul what is it you are being called to face? To change? To become aware of? Identifying this is a first step. The second step is the willingness to do what is necessary to change, to grow, to move ahead. It may be the courage to look at where you are and make the choice to “go to hell” one more time so that you can heal. The next step in doing. It is taking the step forward and allowing life to embrace you as you move ahead. Painfully, haltingly, courageously, moving forward toward your personal healing of your soul. From there, follow the path. A therapist can help in this journey, can be the guide or the support, but it requires still that you can choose to take the steps, move ahead, dare to try something new. Healing - a process. Go ahead, take your step today.
It seems to me that we must become more aware of the fact we are on journeys first. Anyone who is true to their own path of life experiences the “journey to hell” before the “journey to joy.” In mythological terms the hero frequently must descend to hell before passing through his or her rite of passage and ascending. Where are you in this cyclical process of life? What is the area in life you are struggling to deal with? Or the change in thought process you are confronting? The belief about yourself you are faced with undeniably this time? These are “ouch” moments. And unfortunately the “ouch” moments can last longer than the term “movement” implies. In my own life, in the lives of my clients, these ouch times come after a great deal of hard work and they cause one to embark on the next leg of the journey. New awareness leads to new pathways. This is part of the beauty of group therapy. In a group situation one meets others who are on a similar journey and they come together to encourage, confront, support, bind the wounds of the journey. The journey can feel quite lonely - group allows one to reach out and touch another, experience a sense of connection. This also happens in individual therapy, in friendship, in a shared experience of spirituality.
When one connects with others, one also connects more fully with oneself. New corners of self-awareness are lit up and can be seen. Away at school in June I learned about this personally once again. Even in classroom, study, and casual group settings I learned more about myself as I experienced other students and myself in relation to them. Sometimes it feels good, sometimes it challenges. But it takes us further along the journey.
What about the intense pain of loneliness and aloneness of the journey to hell? How does one deal with this? St. Therese Lisieux shares eloquently her experience of this in her journals published in the book translated by John Beevers, The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux: The Story of a Soul. It hurts, it causes pain, but the very pain one experiences here also heals. As Estes said above, one must go to hell before moving upward. When we run from the pain we stop the process. When we hide from the hurt, we avoid the next steps of the journey. It’s like coming to the next part of the journey and freezing as you look over the geography and realize, “oh my goodness, there is another valley to wade through before reaching the road that leads to the pinnacle.” Who wants to take the next step? Who wants to open one more “bag of worms” in the healing process? No one, generally, when we look only at the worms of the geography. It is in looking at the pinnacle we take the next step forward. It is in refocusing our view to the rainbow that we find the courage to walk through the monsoon in the valley. It is in fine-tuning our glimpse of the finish line that we find the courage to move ahead. One more time.
Where are you today? In the journey of your soul what is it you are being called to face? To change? To become aware of? Identifying this is a first step. The second step is the willingness to do what is necessary to change, to grow, to move ahead. It may be the courage to look at where you are and make the choice to “go to hell” one more time so that you can heal. The next step in doing. It is taking the step forward and allowing life to embrace you as you move ahead. Painfully, haltingly, courageously, moving forward toward your personal healing of your soul. From there, follow the path. A therapist can help in this journey, can be the guide or the support, but it requires still that you can choose to take the steps, move ahead, dare to try something new. Healing - a process. Go ahead, take your step today.