Trailing

Giann was working less in the evenings. The gossip was quieting about him.  Jabba and Porky were getting ready to move to their trailer park.  Their move to the trailer park was more symbolic than anyone cared to admit.

It is always sad to see people without a peaceful constitution.  Maybe sad because we see in others some of the same traits we have ourselves.  But neither Giann, Jabba or Porky had lives which turned out the way they had hoped. Giann wanted more money.  Jabba could never get enough food to satisfy his nearly four hundred pound frame.  Porky was married to Jabba and fat herself.  She and her husband were involved in everyone's business.  They watched their neighbors like spies.  That they were all destructive in their individual methologies is tragic. They did not understand that what we do to one part, we do to the whole.

Everyone felt that Beth, one of their quiet, distant neighbors had a kind of wisdom, grounding that they admired.  Once in a while, someone would try to leech off of her.  She had a short learning curve and ended whatever relationship that was about to form in that regard.  She wasn't about to let anyone have a free ride. They needed to do their own work. This was part of her core belief.

Byron Katie wrote about The Work.  That no one gets out of this life alive. That there are storylines we addict ourselves to ~ worse than the bottle.  The storyline keeps us in the hamster wheel until we have the courage to walk out. To walk toward an experience of our own doing.

Cheryl Strayed, in her book, "Wild," had the courage to share her steps not just on the Pacific Crest Trail but in her life. That she changed her name to 'strayed' reveals much about her writing style. Freshening.

Then there are a series of steps which must be mastered (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs) if one is to attain any kind of inner peace and generativity.  We don't use 'happiness' or 'satisfaction' because they are ephemeral.  We do use 'peace.'  It is less of an emotion and more of a constant. 

But this is a year of revelations. Some people will continue to join Beth on the trail, some have completed their allowed distance with her. It is all about using one's resources well.

Walking one's trail is everything. It is in the walk that we answer our own questions.