The first of Karen's new series of e-books. A profound journey through the challenges we all face with fear and doubt that brings us to the remembrance that we are safe, strong, and spiritually eternal. 54 pages of inspiration that will touch your heart and steady your path. For the true seeker. $12.00USD
It is said that no encounter is accidental. That, whether known or unknown, paths cross for a reason - a reason that may lead to surprising treasures. I'm thrilled and honored to have our paths cross. I can't wait to see what comes of it!
Life’s most profound truths are usually found where we’d least expect them – in common events and every day situations. In the chance meeting of a stranger or a missed train. In a song playing on the radio at the just right moment or a breeze bringing the scent of a childhood memory. Moments. Not earth-shattering revelations that turn our worlds upside down. Just a moment when, we’re receptive and present.
This is the stuff of which I write. Moments we all experience and in which we sometimes find a nugget of wisdom that changes everything for us.
In the following ten letters I hope you’ll find your own wisdom and message from spirit. Its voice is subtle and unhurried. It knows that a ready ear is all it needs to illuminate the way.
You and I walk this path side-by-side and it’s a joy to share this journey with you. May you discover yourself in these pages.
Excerpt
There and Back Again
Bilbo Baggins, a most infamous Hobbit in the popular classic Lord of the Rings trilogy, wrote his life story and called it "There and Back Again." At this particular juncture of my life, it seems appropriate. It's oddly settling when the time ahead measures less than the time already lived.
Occasionally in life we’re blessed with that rarest of all things: an original thought. Not the reheated whimsy of a forgotten acquaintance or a paraphrased flash of brilliance spilling from the hottest motivational guru's lips. Something new – for us. And it lodges deep in our souls as something of deep significance and mysterious prophecy.
For me, it was this thought - "To know a path, you must travel it in both directions." I first had this reflection several years ago, but it still gives me chills. I'm a hiker - as long as that term isn't measured by the frequency of boot-donning. I love the outdoors with its untamed and unpretentious exuberance. And there have been many forest paths I've traversed sweaty and awe-struck. Most paths loop, bringing you back to where you began. But, sometimes, just for giggles, I'll stop mid-stride and turn back. Seeing the before unseen reverse side of the trail.
You'd think retracing your steps would be less adventuresome - less surprising. But, you'd be wrong. Things seen from one direction can look startlingly different when viewed from a new perspective. Half of everything seen heading one way is invisible until you turn around. And so I find it in life as well. We may meet life looking forward – but, we meet ourselves looking back.
Hindsight – that contrivance of life that brings understanding after-the-fact. Like reading flash-backs in a perplexing mystery novel - suddenly everything makes sense. A veil is lifted and we understand for the first time. How fulfilling to then re-read with this gift of insight. And how much more we glean - the second time around. Nuances and details which escaped our virgin eyes before now paint vivid pictures.
I think I'm beginning to feel the stirrings of what has long been called wisdom. That beaconing state of comprehension and equanimity. I’d always seen mature wisdom as a place of quiet assuredness and rest, but, what I find is that true wisdom is, instead, a place of innocence and awe. Wisdom isn't all-knowing; it's realizing that we know very little. And that that is okay. It's looking back and realizing (real eyes) what invisibilities escaped our notice before. It's letting lose our grip on the way things are and seeing that it was merely the way we were.
How terrifying - how liberating. Who'd have thought that wisdom would be so childlike? Or that, instead of being the pinnacle of learning, it would turn out to be a reawakening. I don't profess to be wise...please don't interpret this to be a pronunciation of my ascension. But, it is a glimmer. A recognition of that which was seen, but never seen. A dawning that knowledge, as we worship it, is a wanting pretender. A loiterer at the end of a one-way street who never looks back. Never sees the flip-side. Doesn't recognize the fullness of a life lived and relived.
What a useless burden we all carry when we blindly hold on to a single perspective of our lives. Life is much richer than one note. Life is a symphony! We aren’t here to remain forever the same. We’re here to experience everything and let it weave into a tapestry of who we are.
Broaden your sights. There is so much more than we first see. Even the simplest of things is a complex world of majesty.
