Sometimes in the most inconsequential moments, a clearing appears. A message, a realization, a subtle feeling pats you on the back and welcomes you home. It isn’t necessarily what we want to hear, it isn’t as creative or smart as our ego desires. It is short and simple and leaves you with a millisecond of quiet as you devour it’s meaning.
“Even if there was another mountain after this mountain, there would still be a path.” – The Court Dancer
After I read this sentence in the novel, The Court Dancer, I felt the familiar calm and remembered.
With all the mountains we climb, the challenges we face, the painful reality that meets us when we least expect it (ok, I think you get the idea) – we are often unable to see clearly. Our mountains take over us (or what we perceive as our mountains). They leave us in the dark with only our biggest fears to cling onto.
During these times, it is impossible to see that a path exists and that we are all walking it in our own unique way. We cannot see the path (for ourselves or for others), so we don’t believe it is there. Fear and unprocessed pain have a way of robbing us of any path. They are the blindfold that prove we are so lost and unsafe that hiding, numbing, obsessively planning, controlling, thinking, hoarding, etc. are the only way to survive.
The truth, however, can be felt once we take off that blindfold (yep, they are removable), once we begin to acknowledge our own blind spots – the feelings and difficult experiences that weigh on us –the ones we avoid or build walls around because they scare the shit out of us.
The truth is that the path is constantly unfolding with or without your awareness of it. It is not for you to understand or make sense of, IT SIMPLY IS.
As you take each step, the path continues growing. It unfolds with each moment that you continue to show up, to face your fears, to feel your feelings, to try something new, to go forward with honesty, TO LIVE LIFE HERE AND NOW (with whatever may be).
No matter what mountain you are climbing, remember that the path is right here underneath your very own two feet. And you may or may not look back one day and see that it was with you all along, even during the darkest nights or the highest mountains.
Love Always,
Orly
