Creating and maintaining an altar can be a simple and effective way of shifting our focus from an outer world of doing to an inner world of being.
Balancing Work and Rest
Building on the “Essential Rules for living as a pilgrim”, self-care is a key factor in living a balanced, creative, and productive life. A disciplined approach to your life, so that time for work (walking) is balanced with rest, social connection, and what you find most nurturing, is essential to maintaining a life of joy and meaning. How does self-care fit into pilgrimage?
Defining Success and Failure
Failure is personal and dependent on your expectations. It's important to explore what living a spiritually successful life means to you. Success for one person might constitute failure for another.
Outcome Not Guaranteed
Understanding our expectations around outcome are essential to address early on as they can have a huge impact on our ability manage the challenges that present along the way. If we are clear about our expectations, then it helps us to stay true to our path and not get lost in what others demand or expect.
Facing Fear
Vulnerability can create fear and our fears can quickly derail us. How does facing fear allow us to move forward so that we live divinely inspired and transformative lives?
Being Vulnerable
The spiritual path should probably come with a warning label that would read something like this. "WARNING: Being a spiritual pilgrim often brings forward fears and the shadow aspects of yourself". Are you willing to explore these? How open and vulnerable are you willing to be?
Spiritual Practice
What we pay attention to is what will grow and develop. When we place focused attention on our soul life we begin to notice and experience our soul life more fully. It’s as if the soul looks for an invitation to participate in the everyday. What daily practices nurture the sacred?