Circling Back to My Path - My Own Hero's Journey

Yesterday I listened to an interview with Jean Houston. If you haven't heard of her, she's a leader in what she calls the Human Potential Movement. In the interview, she talked about the "Hero's Journey." It's a calling, she says, that we feel, but often choose to ignore.

I've felt this calling at various points in my life. The "calling," by the way, is different for everyone. I've felt a calling toward a path of service to humanity. I remember the first time I really felt the pull was in the mountains of California. A beautiful slice of heaven where my mother's family has camped for decades.

The River at Camp Photo Credit

I was around 18 or so and I was reading The Clan of the Cave Bear, my absolute favorite book, for the very first time. The smell of pine and dust filled my nostrils, the sound of the rushing river in the Stanislaus National Forest was a gift to my ears. You couldn't have asked for a more perfect place for a spiritual awakening.

I didn't know what to do, I just knew a yearning had started inside of me. As the years passed and I went to University, I collected book upon book in the area of spirituality and Native American Wisdom. Books like James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy, Animal-Speak and Earth Medicine.

I studied Psychology and Family Systems so that I could eventually go on to be a counselor. I knew my path was to help people; to serve. Then I had a rough year or two that knocked me off course for a bit. As I picked myself up and brushed myself off, I met my husband. In a whirlwind romance, I was swept off the path of my life's purpose once again. Happily, but off my soul's course.

The door to my path opened once more for me while I was in Singapore working for a chiropractor. She didn't practice traditional chiropractic techniques, but something called Network Spinal Analysis, which uses gentle touches on specific points along the spine that somehow open the body to its own healing. She encouraged me to take courses in a branch of it that involved a specialized breathing technique. I felt the call and the pull again and my body and soul shouted, "YES! Do this!!" But my brain said, "No, take that other job that pays more."

So, I did. Now, here I am again at the precipice of my soul's path, but this time I'm continuing the journey. I know that I'm meant to help people. I know the challenges in my experience have been meant to help me to grow, to see, to learn so that I can be of great service in the world.

I've never really prayed before, but today I'm praying for my Indigogo campaign to be a success, for the doors to keep opening and for the teachers to keep appearing so that I can stay focused on my path and make the difference that I'm meant to make.

Have you felt a calling? Have you answered or ignored it? I'd love to know your experience.