S2 | E1 Breaking Ground: So you wanna grow?
Life’s not just ANY journey, it’s a Pilgrimage.
It’s not about reaching a destination, it’s about transformation.
The Break/ing is an introspective series that gives you courage and a different perspective on your own pilgrimage to finding and living your inner truth. This is Episode One of Season 2.
Hello friends!
Welcome to Season 2 of the Breaking.
It took me a long time to get this one out, and I’m so glad you’re still here for it.
A few things have changed, so first of all, this season is on video, so if you’re more of the visual type, head over to YouTube to watch it. Now, if you’ve listened to the first season, you’ll notice that the intro for the podcast has changed a bit. You’re probably like, pilgrimage! That’s an old dusty word, what are you talking about?! What happened to creativity and courage and all that?
So before we get into the episode, hear me out.
Pilgrimage is an intentional journey, one that takes you into the unknown, and you go on a search for internal expansion. It’s a quest for meaning, beauty, joy, a higher good, purpose… and what we discover along the way is what brings transformation.
Traditionally pilgrimage is a very external thing, a journey to a shrine or holy location, but I want to take the focus inward.
I want to expand your perspective on this idea of pilgrimage, because it truly is a type of hero’s journey, an odyssey… it encompasses everything and anything we set out to do, that’s outside of our comfort zone. This includes creativity and art, if you’re starting a business or a family, going on a spiritual search, or healing from your past, this is all pilgrimage. An inner quest has no destination, so it’s a voyage that takes you into uncertainty, and all you know is that you need lots of courage and you may learn something about yourself along the way.
I’m interested in our internal journeys, so that’s why I’ll always focus on the change that happens within us when we move forward on our pilgrimage, and the digging we need to do for that emotional resilience we’ll need to find for our journeys. I know I focused on creativity in season one, but creativity is only part of the bigger story of our path to discovery and transformation. There are many ways we experience pilgrimage and so, we’ll be talking about this idea, this point of view for a very long time, and creativity will definitely be included in that, since that has been a deeply meaningful pilgrimage for myself.
Pilgrimage is a spiritual word, and I think any quest that takes you inward is a sacred one, so I’m not one to shy away from saying that everything around us has a spiritual component to it and we’re all walking on holy ground.
Thomas Merton said:
“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it all the rest are not only useless but disastrous.”
ah, that’s such a good quote!
This crossing of the abyss back to ourselves is what I call pilgrimage.
And you know something? No one else can take this internal voyage for you, you have to go yourself. You have to discover how to make that crossover to yourself. No one has all the answers for you, and be wary of anyone that tells you they have all the answers…. But there are guides and companions and signposts that helps us along the way, because after all, we’re all just walking each other home.
Ok, so Season 2 is called Breaking Ground.
I’m taking the metaphor of a garden to give us a visual and a story for how we grow our inner lives… or in reality how we grow anything. It can represent your inner landscape, or your career, business, your art, your family, although I firmly believe that the most important thing we can grow is ourselves. Any change we want to see in the world first starts with us. I made the episodes of this season into a voicemail type of format, because I wanted it to feel like a friend just called you up and left you a loving message.
So, as we set out on our Pilgrimage of Growth, what transformation are you searching for? There’s a lot of mystery and unknowns when it comes to growing anything, and Breaking Ground is just the beginning.
Hey friend,
So, you wanna grow. That’s good! I’m so proud of you. It’s not easy, this desire to grow yourself, because it takes time. When you plant something, it doesn't grow overnight. AND also, it's not a one time thing, you can't just set it and forget it. When you're growing a garden, you need to come back time and time again to nurture and give it attention. So, yeah, it's a commitment. But I just want to point out two amazing things I see when you decide to break ground.
One, you are taking ownership of your garden. I know this sounds really simplistic, but for some of us it is difficult to take care of one’s own plot. There are many distractions, busy work, and OTHER people’s gardens. Bad habits can develop, like helping other people with their gardens, and ignoring our own. This doesn’t mean you can never help anyone with their plot of land, just be careful to not turn your back on your own for too long. I’ve made this mistake before, and when I finally had some free time, I came back to a garden that was burned out, dying, pleading for some water and attention. On the flip side of the same coin, I also sometimes made the mistake of allowing too many opinions to enter my garden. Too much attention, Too many voices telling me how to design and plant and when to water. Do this for a long time and you end up with a garden that is not crafted for your needs, desires, and what you want to share with others.
There is a passage from the Warrior of the Light, written by Paolo Coelho, you know him, he wrote the Alchemist, and this is what he writes:
“When the Warrior of the Light starts planting his garden, he notices that his neighbor is there, spying. He likes to vie advice on when to sow actions, when to fertilize thoughts, and water conquests. If the Warrior listens to what his neighbor is saying, he will end up creating something that is not his; the garden he is tending will be his neighbor’s idea. But a true Warrior of the Light knows that every garden has its own mysteries, which only the patient hand of the gardener can unravel. That is why he prefers to concentrate on the sun, the rain, and the season. He knows that the fool who gives advice about someone else’s garden is not tending his own plants.”
The first step to Breaking Ground is accepting that you have a garden that is yours and no one else’s responsibility. You know, it's very interesting, you are both the garden and the gardener at the same time.
The second amazing thing that is happening as you decide to break ground is ownership of your desires. When a gardener breaks the ground with their shovel in order to plant something, they have an intention. They want to plant something specific. They don't just throw random seeds on the ground to see what happens. If they want apples, they will plant for an apple tree. If they want herbs, or a vineyard, those are the seeds that will go into the ground, and that is what they expect to see grow.
It's up to you to cultivate what you desire to see in your inner garden.
You want more joy?
You want more love?
You want more fun, adventure, creativity?
That's what you need to plant so you can grow orchards that can perpetually produce these fruits.
I know, it's nice when your neighbors share the fruits of their gardens with you, but you can't depend on someone else's garden to feed you forever, you can't depend on other people for your joy and anything else you want in your internal life. You have to cultivate your own. So what do you think is dying or missing in your garden? When you hear people say things like: choose joy, have fun, be creative, love people, don't be cynical... you're like, yes, I like the sound of all that, but how, where? These things don't just fall out of the sky, and you can't receive them from other people forever.
You know, self-sustainability is pretty trendy nowadays. The knowledge to grow things to be able to thrive is powerful. If you know how to garden, you can feed yourself, and this sets you, and those around you free. Well, taking care of growing your inner garden is your place of internal self-sustainability.
Do you have an intention for your garden? You have to accept ownership of this inner landscape, and start understanding what you truly desire and want to see grow within yourself. What is the vision you have for your garden? What do you want to see growing in maturity years from now? You can create a beautiful inner landscape... one that is pleasant to live in and inviting to those on the outside.
I know that at first it will feel incredibly selfish to tend to your garden and tell your neighbor, not today, I have some work on my land to do. But remember, a garden is a long term investment.
You won’t reap the benefits of putting time into your garden right this moment, but somewhere down the road, perhaps when the season is right, you will have grown trees that provide shade for many to enjoy, healing herbs that you can give your neighbor, and flowers that bloom with incredible beauty and inspire those who walk by and are taken with their beauty. The most generous thing you can do sometimes is tend to your own garden.
Ok now, I must go and water a little bit of courage I am growing, I’ll talk to you next week.
Stay curious and courageous.
Listening, reading or watching is great, but I encourage reflection and a time to be introspective, because this is what helps us understand ourselves, we grow in self-awareness.
Knowledge is knowing information, wisdom is knowing how your mind uses it and how it affects you. It's time your inner garden had an assessment. Below are journaling prompts from the episode to help you get started.
