The Art of Pilgrimage

March 7, 2022

In each of us dwells a wanderer, a gypsy, a pilgrim. Call forth that spirit. What matters most on your journey is how deeply you see, how attentively you hear, how richly the encounters are felt in your heart and soul. (The Art of Pilgrimage by Phil Cousineau)

I love this quote above. Traveling has awakened the sojourner in me, and has, more than anything else in my experience, granted me the gift of practicing and living life in the present moment. So much of my mind's energy is generally spent looping through the past or anxiously (even fearfully) trying to write and control a certain future. In doing this, I actually miss the present, and I miss the future too...since our futures are built through the practice of each present moment.

Travel engages the senses so fully...especially when I'm also walking the land....that my mind is arrested by the new sights I'm witnessing, the new foods I'm tasting, the sounds I hear, and the feeling my body experiences in an unfamiliar setting. This override of my mind by my senses truly allows me to encounter the present deep in my heart and soul in a way that encourages me to continue to the practice of Be Here Now. This, my friends, is central in the adventure of wholehearted living and loving. Accepting reality as it is, embracing the gifts of now. Right foot, left foot, Pilgrims.

What moments of living fully in the present come to mind for you?

Photo: Bryce Canyon, USA, March 2022