Exploration

Greetings!

            I had a moment this past week that touched me in such a way that I wanted to share it with you.

My sons are getting older and, knowing that the years are dwindling that they might be willing to spend part of their spring break with me, I decided we would go on an impromptu trip to Carlsbad Caverns in southern New Mexico. It had been on my “mental list” of things I wanted to do with them before they were grown for several years, so I made the proposal and it was accepted. I checked the expiration date on my National Park annual pass, booked a room in Carlsbad, printed off the directions on Mapquest, and we were off!

We arrived in the early afternoon the next day and explored what we could of the caves on our own. The next morning, we did a tour that took us into an area of the cavern called the King’s Palace and the Queen’s Chambers. Through the expertise of the guide (I do love the National Park system) we learned more about how the caverns were formed and were taken into portions you can only enter with a park ranger.

Needless to say, the caverns are about as awe inspiring as any natural landscape I have ever experienced, and more than once, I tears filled my eyes. I found myself contemplating this amazing formation beneath the surface of the Guadalupe Mountains dating back 3.9 to 4 million years. While there is evidence that ancient people were aware of the caverns by petroglyphs found outside the 90 foot natural entrance at the top, I wondered how far they could have traveled down into the depths without the use of a lantern with fuel. Were the depths really just explored in the late 1800’s?

As we stood in King’s Palace, I had a moment; a moment in which I truly grasped the magnitude of where I was and the miracle that life on this planet earth is. It was one of those fleeting moments in which an awareness of self in relation to the spectrum of space and time felt within my reach and comprehension; a moment in which I was both humbled by my own insignificance in the realm of creation and awe struck that I was somehow a participant in it.

 

These lives we are living are but a blip on the radar screen of linear time. Yet within our lives, there is uncharted territory to be covered, awareness to be gained, adventure to be sought, and deep, magnificent caverns of Self to be explored.

It is all here, just waiting for us.

Many Blessings,

Sheryl 

Tomorrow is promised to no one.

      “Remember, tomorrow is promised to no one.”

                             -Walter Payton

My life, of course, creates the fodder for what I write. I have begun to realize that experience, be it good or bad, holds within it the opportunity to seek grace and uncover wisdom.

Such was the source of the Timeless Waters blog for March of this year, and alerted by the message that my post contained, an old friend contacted me. Speaking to me in a language I could understand, he referenced an experience I wrote about in my book, Timeless Waters, and opened a dialog about where I was in my life. Of all that conversation contained, there was one thing he said that has stuck with me the most; “What do you want the next half of your life to be about?” He is indeed a wise man.

I took a few weeks and let that simmer. My young to middle adulthood had been about working hard; building my career, a family, a home and a life. Wrapped up in those things are my values of service to humanity, productivity, success, accomplishment, stability, and so forth. All those endeavors were worthwhile and are the foundation of where I am today. I have no regrets, but a new season of life is upon me, and with that comes the question: what do I want that to look like?

Joy was the word that came to mind; and a life fully lived. Living life fully would mean living a little differently; creating new patterns in my existence to balance out the paths of experience so well traveled the first forty five years. Joy, spontaneity, time for recreation, and tending to my list of dreams—this was what I wanted and was where I would start.

After a solo-trip to Utah to explore Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park-- an experience that fit my newly established criteria-- I told my sons I wanted them to hike the Narrows with me for my 50^th birthday.  What could be more exhilarating than a ten mile hike through the Virgin River in the heart of Zion, with 1500 feet canyon walls towering on both sides? My youngest, now 12, asked “why are we going to wait until your 50?”  He had a very good point. Two months after that conversation, I found myself hiking the Narrows with my boys, as well as Bryce and the Grand Canyon. It was a literally a dream come true. I am still not sure how I made that a reality. Come to think of it, I’m not sure exactly how this entire summer has become a reality. It is as if I am living my life from a different paradigm, and I hope it is where I have taken residence rather than a short visit.

Perhaps the quote at the top of the page should be Walt Disney’s “if you can dream it you can do it,” rather than “tomorrow is promised to no one.” Or maybe, just maybe, the two together are the formula for a joyful life indeed.

Blessings,

Sheryl

Journey of Self

There are forms of adventure that are the opposite of thrusting one's self outward.  They are quiet, perhaps unobservable to the outside world, and sometiems so subtle that one doesn't know the magnitude until  it has already passed.  Such is the journey of Self - the multidimensional self; the totality of who we are.