Exploring the Uncharted
Human behavior is fascinating, especially our conditioning that the answers to our questions are outside of ourselves. Looking for our answers in some spiritual guru, politician, motivational speaker, philosopher, or celebrity often leads us into massive disappointment. Their words may speak to us, but when their words don’t match their actions, all we’re left with is the emptiness of a charismatic person who has learned how to draw us into their stories while they grab as much as they can out of us.
Whatever it is we may be seeking will rarely be found in a person selling us his or her platform. Spiritual healers or celebrities, focused on their own success, will most likely not have any of our answers, especially when they prey on people. They may be helpful, to a point, but they’re just as much on their own journey as we are.
Society, in its current form, is dying from groupthink and consensus, as is our world. Our systems are breaking right in front of us, and instead of stepping out of these systems and into uncharted territory to invent healthier, more relevant ones, most continue to dispense Band-Aid solutions.
Ah! No One is Coming to Save Us
Author Hermann Hesse shares with us, “His small fragile ship had barely escaped a disaster; now it enters a region of new storms and uncharted depths through which even the best led … cannot find a guide. He must find his own way and be his own savior.”
Life is not happening to us. We are not simply characters in a television show, musical or a play. It’s all real and happening right now, right here, in vivid colors, sounds, and images.
Instead of automatically following the crowd and buying into what others assume you need, can you see what’s truly driving you? Are you courageous enough to navigate towards what is healthiest for you?
What if what you desire doesn’t exist yet and you’re being called to create it? This uncharted territory is asking you to step out of your comfort zone. You may be witnessing the deep holes and tears in the safety nets — governments, healthcare, education, financial, and legal systems — you were told would protect you. Maybe being forced to face yourself will release you and no longer hold you back from understanding what’s truly healthy for you.
When you become self-aware that you are in charge and you are a creator, you can own your power. What is meaningful to you? What values are important to you? What is it that you want to create, and with whom? You may feel alone, but you are never alone when you have clarity and remember you can turn down the volume on the ever-increasing noise of the world.
Stepping into Uncharted Waters
Author Paulo Coelho observes that, when we walk in a forest, we’ll experience many different trees along the uncharted path. No two leaves on hundreds of trees are alike. And no two journeys, along the path, are alike. In his book, The Alchemist, he writes, “We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.”
Much can shift when you realize that no one has your answers, no matter how hard that person tries to convince you. While we’re all connected more than we realize, each of us is here to learn our own lessons and experience our own journey. This is a time of deep questioning as no one can know what makes you tick better than yourself.
Excerpt from Expedition 12: Mirror, Mirror, What the Heck Happened? F*ck the Bucket List for the Adventurer: Trekking into the Unknown (Book 2).