Pilgrimage

My One Word for 2022 was elusive. It decided to play hide-and-seek with me. It even deployed a decoy.

It all began with the realization that I was headed in a direction that wouldn’t give me the results I wanted for my life. So I began reflecting on my habits, what was working for me, what wasn’t, and what I valued. I felt the pull to work in this area in 2022, but habit wasn’t my word. It felt too utilitarian and work-ish. It didn’t feel right.

Then, I started to look at align and alignment. I was looking to align my habits with my values and the direction I wanted in life. After researching the meanings of these words and looking at some quotes, align seemed to be the word for me. I sat on it for a week, did some artwork, claimed the word to a few close friends. Finally, it seemed I had found my word for 2022.

Then I went on a 4-day retreat in Wisconsin. I like to take a few days away at the start of the year to get my head straight. Unfortunately, the pandemic kept me from this in 2021, but armed with my 3 Moderna shots and a mask, I felt comfortable taking my start-of-the-year retreat at The Christine Center.

I packed a few books that felt retreat-like for the trip. One titled Pilgrim in Time had occupied my shelf for months. It seemed a good book for this time. So I added it to the pile along with a collection of poems by Hazif, The Seeker’s Guide by Elizabeth Lesser, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown.

Pilgrim in Time shook my one-word apple cart, toppled it over, and demanded I reconsider. The first page of the introduction read, “The goal of pilgrimage is personal transformation.” I stopped reading and knew my one word for 2022 wasn’t align. I realized it was too mechanical and analytical for my needs. It was missing a spiritual dimension that I craved. I was looking for something more reflective and introspective for 2022.

As I read on, Keller described the 5 stages of a pilgrimage:

Stage 1: The Yearning to go. I experienced this in December when I was drawn to develop new habits and create ways to support the life I want and the values I hold dear.

Stage 2: The preparation. This is where I am now. Aligning my habits with my stated outcomes and values is my preparation for the journey.

Stage 3: Starting out on the journey itself. I feel I have started this too by saying yes to my word.

Stage 4: The arrival at the destination.

Stage 5: The return home. This is the most important of the steps. The pilgrim returns changed and shares what they have learned with others.

These 5 steps overlay the stages of the Hero’s Journey pretty well, something I had undertaken before. (See my three-part blog about my move to Minnesota for an example of a Hero’s Journey.) The significant difference between the hero’s journey and a pilgrimage is that we must choose a pilgrimage. We can be thrust into a hero’s journey at any time. A natural disaster destroys our home, and we have to pick up the pieces. We leave our job and move 500 miles away alone to start a new life. We expand our family by having a child.

I realized I had already started on a pilgrimage through 2022; I just hadn’t identified the correct word for what I was doing. I am on a sacred journey this year. I don’t plan to travel the El Camino De Compostela in Spain as Keller did. Nor do I plan to visit the Holy Lands in Israel or travel to Mecca. You don’t need to take a long trip to a holy place to go on a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage can be a hike or bike ride, a camping trip, an intentional walk through town. A pilgrimage is really about deep listening to ourselves, those around us, and the world. It’s a more profound way of life.

Keller states on page 84 of her book, “In the end, pilgrimage provides a model for how to live our lives – with anticipation and dedication, resolve and delight, always receptive to the unexpected.” This sounded pretty good to me. It sounds like the kind of life I really want to embrace and suck the marrow from.

Pilgrimage is my pilgrimage.

So, this is how I came to be on a pilgrimage. Right now, I am trying to treat each day as a pilgrimage to prepare for whatever might come my way.

I look forward to wherever this journey takes me.

References

Keller, R. (2006). Pilgrim in Time: Mindful Journeys to Encounter the Sacred (1st ed.). Liturgical Press.

This blog is part of an arch that began with this discussion of pilgrimage and the book Wild.

Click HERE to read part 1 of my trip up the PBT.

Click HERE to read part 2 of my trip up the PBT.