Back to Normal?

Back to Normal? Or a chance to remember what’s Natural?

Quest

Burning coals crackle
Lucid drums throb
Chants rise and fall

The way ahead is clear
The way ahead is danger
The way ahead is me

Days in the wilderness
Still fear rises
Still the acrid keen fire
Churns, turns and tosses inside

The way ahead is pure
The way ahead is calling
The way ahead is me

Desert stone heat burns my soul
Roasts my soles
Blazes my neck raw

The way ahead is sharp
The way ahead is harsh
The way ahead is me

I dream
Circling birds peck my flesh
Carry me to the blue, the grey, the black
Timeless, endless, seamless

The way ahead is empty
The way ahead is full
The way ahead is me

I came upon this poem earlier today whilst searching for something else. Isn’t that often the way?!
I wrote it several years ago after making some time to review, rethink and take an inventory of where I’d got to in my life.
I made a choice to spend time on a guided Vision Quest in the red rock canyons of Utah & Colorado.
It was an internal expedition as much as one that involved hiking miles through wilderness. Although descending into the canyonlands with a full rucksack was a tough start!
The corona virus pandemic has given us the chance to do just that if we can embrace the opportunity.

Normal or Natural?

I realise I’m writing this from a privileged position. Enough income, time and space to reflect in the way I’m encouraging you to do as well. The ‘Back to normal’ phrase raises a question about just how normal life for many of us had become.
As Gandhi said, ‘It’s important not to confuse that which is natural with that which we call normal’.
Here then, is a very good opportunity, if we can take it, to work out what our natural is. And it certainly doesn’t require a trip to America. But going on such an internal journey may be one of the most profitable ones we’ll ever take.