It’s been an amazing couple of days and I’m sure I’ll write multiple
blog posts about my amazing adventures in Arizona, but I want to spend some time
writing about how a few simple cairns restored my faith and taught me that I don’t
have to always have all the answers all at once.
I arrived in Arizona on Thursday, checked in to my beautiful
room at the Doubletree, and spent some time wandering around Phoenix. I really enjoyed sitting out in the warm air
and just taking time to celebrate me. Friday morning, I got up early and headed up
to Sedona. Driving through the desert
was an amazing experience as the saguaros stood like silent sentinels along the
road and the hues of red and orange filled me with energy. Coming up on Sedona was like nothing I’d ever
experienced as the rocks were almost pure red and the energy was this combination
of peace and power like nothing I’d ever felt before. I stopped at the first store I found in town
to buy souvenirs, including a rock with a spiral carved on it, and to ask directions
to Bell Rock.
Bell Rock is supposed to be one of the most powerful places
in Sedona, but I have to be honest and say that I didn’t feel the energy at
first. However, I parked and walked down
the first path I felt drawn to and then as I got closer to to Bell Rock, I felt
the energy shift. It was as if I was
being called to sit upon the earth. I
found a niche in the rock and just sat there. As I sat, I felt as if all the pain of the
past year and a half was draining away. I felt my anger, my despair, and my
hopelessness drain away into the rock. It was as if Mother Earth was embracing me and
taking away all the pain and anger. As
the ick and the bad stuff drained away, I felt as if I was le[ with my true
self. I said a prayer and ask that I
find the right path for me. When I was
done, I built a small rock cairn as a gift to the earth and started down the
hill.
On the way back I lost my way and kept coming to dead ends
where it was either a steep path up or a steep path down. Finally, I made my way back to where I had
built my cairn and asked my fellow hikers for guidance. They pointed to a big pile of rocks encased in
chicken wire and said to follow the cairns the rangers had placed on the path. I could only see one cairn, but I faithfully
made my way to that cairn. Once I was at
that cairn, I realized I could see the next one. It continued that way until I was back within
sight of the parking lot.
I realized from that experience, that I didn’t have to know
every step of my path. I had to look for
the next right step and take it. From
there, I would be guided step by step through life. That’s a difficult lesson for a control freak
to handle, but an important one.
