{"id":2978,"date":"2014-01-02T15:09:22","date_gmt":"2014-01-02T20:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.katrinakenison.com\/?p=2978"},"modified":"2014-01-02T15:09:22","modified_gmt":"2014-01-02T20:09:22","slug":"walking-labyrinth-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/walking-labyrinth-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"On walking the labyrinth, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"labyrnth\"Y<\/span>ou take a step forward, and another, still not sure you\u2019re on the right road.\u00a0 And yet, there is something deep inside you urging, this way<\/i>.\u00a0 The child-in-you is afraid. You look around for confirmation, for some wiser, older \u201cadult\u201d kind of person to nod \u201cyes.\u201d If only someone else would fall into step beside you, someone who could take your hand and tell you who you really are and where you\u2019re meant to go. Instead, every morning you wake up and set out once again, a fumbling beginner on the path of awakening.<\/p>\n

The road is full of travelers. (You think: Does everyone else have this all figured out? Am I the only one who\u2019s lost?) You can \u2013 and do — follow in another\u2019s footsteps for a while.\u00a0 But ultimately, you have to find your own way.\u00a0\u00a0 This life, this trail through the wilderness, is a creative journey: your own.\u00a0 It\u2019s full of unknowns; no map or guide is going to tell you what\u2019s around the next corner.\u00a0 All you know for sure is that the view isn\u2019t ever quite what you expected.\u00a0 The plans you make?\u00a0 No guarantees, no promises.<\/p>\n

And so you have no choice but to proceed on faith. \u00a0Little by little you learn to trust:\u00a0 the murmurings of your own heart, the wisdom in your own two feet, the forces at work in the world that are larger than you.\u00a0 What you need, you have.\u00a0 What you want changes moment to moment.<\/p>\n

Road-weary, you begin to let go of the wanting and the craving.\u00a0 You move more slowly, more quietly \u2013 taking time to listen, to look, to wonder.\u00a0 Befriending the silence, you turn away from the chattering voices in your head. You see into the depths of things. \u00a0And what you come to understand, as your pace slows and your heart opens, is that not all desires need to be met. That there is a kind of beauty in accepting yourself as you are, your life as it is, the path you are already on.<\/p>\n

Once you slip through the net of your own fears, there is mystery in every step.\u00a0 Out here, in the open space between the \u201cyes\u201d and the \u201cno\u201d of judgment, you discover the treasure that\u2019s been yours all along: your life is filled with grace. \u00a0You stand still for a moment, overcome by the shock of it.\u00a0 You weep.\u00a0 You look around, through new eyes, and are suddenly filled with compassion for all those who are walking ahead of you, behind you, beside you.\u00a0 There is nothing to do but love them all.\u00a0 There is no other place to be but here.\u00a0 There is nothing to feel but gratitude.<\/p>\n

\n

A New Year’s Wish and Benediction<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who have joined me in this space, to read and write and share this magical journey that is everyday life.\u00a0 You are the ones I keep writing for. \u00a0As long as you keep showing up to read, I will show up, too, deeply grateful for your company. \u00a0 May we continue to travel well together, to support one another along the way, and to celebrate the gift of all our ordinary days. \u00a0Blessings to you and yours in 2014 and beyond.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Each New Year’s Eve morning, volunteers in our town painstakingly tape this labyrinth onto the floor of the town hall, creating an exact replica of the famous 13th-century labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral. \u00a0In silence, townspeople arrive throughout the afternoon, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day, to walk the path and reflect. \u00a0It has become a special tradition in our family. \u00a0Yesterday, as I traveled through the labyrinth with my husband and son, I was surprised by the emotions that came up. \u00a0Such a simple ritual. \u00a0And yet, so much mystery. \u00a0So much beauty. \u00a0So much.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You take a step forward, and another, still not sure you\u2019re on the right road.\u00a0 And yet, there is something deep inside you urging, this way.\u00a0 The child-in-you is afraid. You look around for confirmation, for some wiser, older \u201cadult\u201d kind of person to nod \u201cyes.\u201d If only someone else would fall into step beside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,24,26,30,40,14],"tags":[198,257,303],"class_list":{"0":"post-2978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-compassion","8":"category-connection","9":"category-faith","10":"category-gratitude","11":"category-mindfulness","12":"category-soul-work","13":"tag-gratitude-2","14":"tag-labyrinth","15":"tag-mystery","16":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/600x600.png?fit=600%2C600","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}