5/4/24 – Washington, DC
New Mexico has an average annual rainfall of about 7 inches. And it felt like most of it fell during our first week there. But when the clouds lifted as we made it to Taos, the high Northern desert revealed itself in all its quiet magnificence.
Majestic mountain ranges with snow-capped peaks and verdant cover. Scrappy towns with flowering lilacs in every yard. And everywhere, rushing water – through muddy arroyos and flowing in irrigation canals to soaking agricultural fields. We met the Rio Grande again, this time snaking through a deep and astonishing gorge. And in rocky crevices, the flashes of roused desert flowers, orange, red and purple.
Amidst all this natural wonder, the drive to work on my book was subsumed to a gnawing ache. But then there were transcendent moments of clarity – like the extraordinary interview I conducted on Zoom in a coffee-shop parking lot.
The topic, of course, was how expanded states of consciousness can contribute to our experience of elderhood. And the very wise and thoughtful man I was speaking to – a physician, psychiatrist and healer – left me with much to think about.
He told me of his time in West Africa learning about traditional healing. In the particular tribe he visited, it is understood that everyone is born with a purpose in life. In a ritual held while an infant is still in its mother’s womb, a shaman receives insight about what that child’s purpose is, and is named accordingly. As the child goes through life, every time someone says their name, they are reminded of their purpose.
We have no such understanding of individual calling in our culture, let alone how our calling relates to the wellbeing of our community. And yet, his story resonated deeply with me.
One feature of expanded states of consciousness is that they can connect us to a sense of what our purpose is. We may live, sometimes for decades, in a state of dissonance between the road we are following and where our authentic path lies. But when all the stories fall away, there may come a moment of truth. And with that insight, we may see the changes we need to make to reach a state of alignment. In the parlance of psychedelic journeying, that work is called “integration.”
The New Mexico landscape is extraordinary – and because my consciousness has been expanded, I feel like I was able to immerse myself and experience its wonder through every fiber of my being.
But I also realize that, at this point, my work requires the vistas of a library. And that my journey, for now, must be an inner one.
Less scenic, for sure. But my north star is pointing the way.
Hello Ms Rosner,
Where’s Abbie ?
When will she come out to play ?
Oh Guy! I’m working so hard on my writing, I haven’t come up for air!
But thanks for noticing my absence!