You
might list traits such as curiosity, being in a process of discovery,
and a willingness to not know where something is going. This can be true
about exploring just about anything. In my mind, an explorer begins
with openness to what is there, whether looking under a rock or
crossing a sea. Children exemplify this explorer spirit as they crawl
into tiny spaces, or look closely at something wriggling in the dirt.
Being
an explorer of our life’s mission adds an element of inner discovery.
Clues about why we are here, what we are here to do and who we are here
to become are ubiquitous when we are invested in the quest-ion of life mission.
With
this lens, our lives become a landscape ripe for exploration. Things
we’ve always known begin to light up in new ways when we are
simultaneously being present to life and to asking why we are here. Life
mission doesn’t need to be a separate undertaking that requires time
away from our full lives. As the process of life mission inquiry is integrated, we begin to
live the questions in the everydayness of our lives.
Even simple self examination at the end of the day such as, what did I find beautiful today? what was I drawn to? when did I light up? can deliver valuable information. There are also other, deeper questions, we can carry in our satchels, such as what am I willing to live for?, what can I not put down? and, what do I do because I must?*
By
inviting these questions along for reflection, we start to collect and
catalogue a living language of life mission that is unique to each of
us, based on the particulars of our lived experience.
Imagine
having a life mission ‘dictionary’ filled with images, sounds, words,
symbols and movements that reference in some way aspects of what has
meaning to you. Every entry is a clue that you gathered during your
explorations.
In the following quote, drawn from The Caravan of Remembering by
Daniel Goodenough, David, the main character, is invited by Kairos, a
Caravan Guide, to look for clues in the patterns of his past. This gives
a hint of how we might look for clues.
My
childhood resulted in my spending years in the fine arts and more years
on the road as a musician. I could have settled into the world of fine
art. Instead, just as that was about to happen, rock and roll took me on
the road. Echoing my childhood, I traveled to new places day after day.
I felt this pattern. My life of pilgrimage had been designed for
something. Kairos had told me to listen and look for the clues. (p.140)
Here
David is looking to his past. This process of exploration can include
the past, the present and the future that is calling us forward.
By
cultivating the mindset of an explorer, there’s an openness to seeing
our lives in a new way, perhaps spotting new patterns that reveal fresh
insights. In this way the exploration is a living conversation with a
unique-to-us language we can bring with us anytime, anywhere, under any
circumstance.
*Questions are based on The Caravan of Remembering: A Roadmap to Experiencing the Awakening of Your Life’s Mission by Daniel Goodenough
Article originally published by Carissa Kazyss on Medium (https://medium.com/@caravanofr...).
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