While traveling at 72 miles per hour, I have relished in the stillness around me. No music, no distractions, except maybe the annoying, comical voices in my head.
“You’re not in Kansas anymore.” … (ha ha. dry laughter) this has never been a funny joke…
“No shit, Sherlock— Is that why my bagel isn’t so “great plain” anymore?” … (hah! real laughter) now that’s funny!
… Ah, okay.
So… I have made it across the plains, over mountains, past the dessert, through woods, and no where near grandma’s house. It has been a leisurely, yet not dilly-dallyingly westward adventure. Every moment a chance for inward expansion to provoke outward movement. Every interaction along the way an opportunity for growth, a lesson. This has been my time to plunge deep into my beingness.
My solo journeys have become vision quests, a sacred time to sort out the BIG questions.
Questions like: What is going on in the depths of my being? What is floating around my auric field? … What are my wildest dreams and what does it feel like to have them manifest fully? What is blocking me from experiencing life as my greatest self, living in the truth of my soul? … Where can I get a bagel near here? Do I need a bagel– Everything?! With cream cheese? … Um. Also is there an update on the current price of tea in China? (RIOTOUS LAUGHTER!)
It is very important to ask these kinds of questions.
It is also very important to truly listen for answers.
And these answers often appear in the most unusual ways…
Billboards, songs that pop into your head, dreams, complete knowingness, animals, rocks, etc…
FLASHBACK!
I first learned this type of listening three years ago, when I took an intuitive road trip. No map, no plan— just the open road, a window of time, and an eagerness to listen. At the start of that trip, a soul sister suggested Ojo Caliente for a mineral hot springs bath. I said yes to that, who wouldn’t?! — and after half a day of soaking in sacred waters, I ventured through Chaco Canyon. It was there I began to hear rocks talk.
Now, if you want to take it to the next level of crazy, ask your dog if she too can hear the rocks talk. I joke, as it was clear to me… I heard their chants and I saw the faces of Tribal Elders within them. I heard over and over again, “Red Rocks! Red Rocks! Red Rocks!” … I did not know what this meant. I kept driving towards Phoenix, but when I googled it, the first thing that came up was “Sedona: Home of the Red Rocks.” I read nothing more, the path was clear, and I knew now where I was meant to be.
Along the way, I experienced agonizing jaw pain, which had been on going for months. I had a vision of turquoise earrings and was told turquoise would heal me. I stopped at a side of the road shop, where the small studs from my vision awaited my purchase. I put the earrings in and my jaw pain vanished within minutes. I don’t know a lot about the healing properties of stones, so that was miraculous to me. I hopped into my car and begin to drive, seeing my rear view mirror that three Indian elders had climbed into my backseat. I didn’t recall picking up hitchhikers, but there they were, clear as day in my third eye. Yeah, the third eye. It’s real, ya’ll. And seeing through the third eye can be described as seeing the unseen, or seeing something that is more light than it is matter. If that knowing that “matters” to you. (gosh, funny stuff, man!)
Now, there are mind altering substances (psychedelics) that can facilitate states of prolonged heightened spiritual awareness. These stimulants were naturally created as temporary tools to help the body surrender more fully and learn to navigate the light realms. For me, this time at least, my third eye was super activated without such tools. I was driving, after all and as a friend of mine would say, “Safety First”.
So, I made it to Sedona late that night, I ate cold soup, and slept in my car in a free parking lot. Free parking, yes! The next morning, I awoke to the most stunning landscape— Cathedral Rock not far from me. What was this magical place? I drove around town to find many new age bookstores. Soon, I decided to stop in one. I was “mysteriously” lead to a medicine woman wearing all turquoise. Rema Thundercloud– “and don’t you forget it,” she said to me. We froze upon seeing each other, it was an instant recognition of souls. We had purpose for meeting.
The next day, Rema and I went on a shamanic journey. She took me to the base of a structure in the hills that looked like a goddess holding a small child. As soon as Rema began to shake her turtle shell rattle, the winds began to circle around me. Rema said, “Hailey, I want you to know that this is not a dream. This is really happening.” Now, it was a windy day, but the way this wind moved around me was nothing but Spirit. I felt like Pocahontas, dancing in the colors of the wind. When Rema stopped shaking her rattle, the wind stopped and we were both crying. Birds surrounded us with messages, the mountain’s aura told us what was to come, and we listened to the sacred song within our hearts. Somehow we sang it together, the ancient words bringing life, light and love, to all.
It was a journey I’ll never forget. And in many ways it paved the way for the trust and surrender I would need in my travels to India, the ones that I was not yet aware of…
AND NOW… BACK TO MORE PRESENT TIME!
This year’s intuitive drive was a little different. For one, I am driving an amazing Prius hatchback hybrid, instead of a Honda Civic sedan. Awesome gas milage. And this is much easier for sleeping, no more clown acrobatics in the back seat. For two, I am much more filled with my own intuitive wisdom. I am not seeking those who can tell me, but instead listening as a I am told. For three, things are just different now, I am more whole in my soul– and happy with the way things are instead of how I wish them to be. Peace of heart, peace of mind, peace is where the happiness lies.
As I crossed the threshold of the West this year, I ventured to Indian Hot Springs to do my purification for the journey to come. Hot Springs are obviously a crucial part of any westward movement. These were particularly cool cause they were in a cave! Rebirth! … And from there, I slept in a mountain valley, then took the highways that seemed to be going towards where I was meant to be.
At some point, I found myself on “the Way of the Ancestors”– complete with a sign said I was on a “historic right of way”. This felt appropriate for the solo shamanic journey I was on. I soon found a desolate campground, somewhere in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, or Arizona. There’s really no telling where I was, and it didn’t matter, as I was in the hands of the Great Spirit.
With the hatch open and windows down, I meditated for several hours. The wind offered up the wisdom of sacred mandalas and visions to provoke deeper understanding of my current phase of transformation. I came to understand the role of the modern alchemist. There is only so much we can know about our experience at any given time. However, there is great strength in understanding how our current actions are impacting the unfolding of our future. It’s all perfectly designed and not as linear as we might believe. I also learned the difference between fantasy of this and reality is ACTION. Our power lies in acting upon on pure intuitive impulse, free of fear, and trusting the bigger picture.
Later that evening, I danced in the dessert sunset and was struck silent by the rise of the full moon over the distant mountains. “It’s time to wake up” she seemed to say. And as nature bowed to nature, I knew what she meant. There would be no more daydreaming about what could be, instead only acting upon what is.
The next day, along my drive, I saw a billboard that said, “Don’t call it a dream, call it a plan!”
And that sounds like a plan to me.