Create the Life You Imagine~January 2018

The Call

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”

~ Joseph Campbell

Happy New Year and welcome to January 2018. The New Year is a time when we set resolutions, but I am writing to invite you to go deeper this year and to begin in 2018 to walk with intention into your spiritual journey. In my new book, From Oz to Om—The Spiritual Journey Home, we use the familiar Oz story and Dorothy’s epic journey to Oz to uncover the markers of the spiritual journey we all are called to make in our lives. Joseph Campbell taught about the markers, signposts and stages of the spiritual journey in his transformational work on The Hero’s Journey. Campbell taught that in the teachings of every tradition and in every culture we find the myth of the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey is a myth about each of us finding our sacred path in life and living fully through the adventure of our personal life story to discover our true identity. It is the spiritual journey to discover who we really are and to live our lives in deep connection to our truest Self.

The first step of the hero’s journey is The Call. The call comes from the deepest part of ourselves. It is the quiet urging we feel from our intuition to wake up and begin to live in deeper alignment with our highest possibilities. This first step in the journey calls us to look more deeply at what is happening in our life. It may come from the inside as an inner voice that says effectively – “wake up and pay more attention to the path you are taking and the choices you are making.” Or it may come from the outside in the form of a life crisis – a job loss, a relationship challenge, a health crisis, or an unexpected opportunity of some kind that opens before you. Either way, something startles you out of your regular routine and forces you to stop and reflect. The call is the invitation to take the first steps on the path of this important spiritual journey.

This is the work of the soul, the invisible Self, to draw us into circumstances that provide us with the opportunity to experience, learn, grow and evolve in our understanding of ourselves and the universe. Our intuition, the voice of the higher Self, silently initiates our journey and creates the experiences that tease us toward a new way of seeing, experiencing, imagining or perhaps remembering who we are and what is possible if we open ourselves to the journey ahead.

In the Oz story we are introduced to all of the characters that represent the parts of ourselves that are needed to navigate the spiritual journey. Toto, the Wizard, Glinda, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, the Lion, the Wicked Witch, the Flying Monkeys, and others all show up along Dorothy’s spiritual journey and present her with the keys for each stage of the path. As we all remember from the story, the Cowardly Lion is seeking Courage. Courage may be the most important quality needed at this first stage of the path. It takes courage to trust that inner voice. It takes courage to make new choices and to leave our old life patterns behind. It takes courage to face our fears and get up and walk when a life event knocks us down. It takes courage to acknowledge, name and pursue our deepest possibilities and move toward them. It takes courage to answer the call.

During 2018, my monthly messages will take us through all the stages of the Hero’s Journey and encourage you to follow along on your own path of spiritual awakening. My blog will also provide you with you with short weekly messages for reflection and/or journaling as Stepping Stones to keep you moving along your path. I hope these messages will challenge and support you in connecting with your deeper intuitions and longings, and provide the encouragement and courage to enter into your spiritual journey in some meaningful ways. During 2018 don’t settle for the same old tired resolutions, go deeper and answer the call of your soul to remember who you are.

Wishing you courage, blessings and light as you begin this journey to create the life you imagine.

Tracy