A Spiritual Journey

I am uncomfortable speaking of the N2N-TCP in terms of a spiritual journey, but as Rory and I continue to plot and talk and train and move toward the beginning of the journey the spiritual nature of the trip continues to become a larger and larger presence in our efforts.

The discomfort comes from an degree anxiousness that this sort of external manifestation of an internal journey is really not something to be talked about in polite company. I feel that I run the risk of being a little crazy or off kilter. I don't know why I feel that way, and I suppose at this stage in the progression it's becoming time to lean into that discomfort a little and try to communicate this aspect of the pilgrimage.

The Daily Message from the Universe - Fairhope, AL

Since I started training for this walk, I've broken with culture to a degree. I suppose I always new that the walk across the United States would be a spiritual quest of some sort, and that's why I settled on naming the idea the Newport to Newport Transcontinental Pilgrimage (N2N-TCP). One aspect of breaking from the cultural norms is that I spend much more time outside than I used to spend. Not only is the amount of time higher, but I've come to believe that the quality of the time is also higher. Vanishing from my day to day existence are the televisions and radios, and in their place, the sunsets and sunrises that have been happening on this planet from the beginning of time forced themselves into the forefront of my experience.

These daily celestial events, many shared (because they cannot be truly captured) in the photographs on this blog leave me feeling simultaneously blessed in a very special and intimate way and feeling small in the face of the vastness and power that they indicate is working all around me.  They leave me with a feeling of distance coupled with a feeling of closeness that I find impossible to really describe.

I am beginning to sense when other people have experienced the same sort of paradox in a similar way, and I'm beginning to believe that we all experience these feelings at one time or another. Through my time under the sky on the trail I sense a slow coming together into a feeling of oneness with others that I don't really remember experiencing in the past.

Uncertainty with where any or all of this is leading makes me question the direction this is going from time to time. In those moments of doubt, I'm reminded by Rory that sometimes it's good to step out of line every now and then just to make sure you agree with where the line seems to be heading.

I'm grateful that he's been a partner in these endeavors, and although I have no idea what tomorrow will reveal, I'm looking forward to finding out.

Thinking on Oneness, and a Trip South

I skipped a dedicated walk for exercise today. Travel took up a good part of the day, and frankly, I am tired.

The day started early with fellowship with a good group of folks where the topic of discussion centered around resentments and how they work against healthy living. If I'm honest, I sometimes struggle to keep a sense of oneness at the center of my relationships with both people and institutions, so resentment may be an issue for me address. I don't perceive myself as bitter, but my suspicion is that like eating and exercise the fruits of the way I approach life is an incremental and cumulative process. I don't want to be a bitter or resentful person. I believe that capturing that sense of oneness may prove critical to that vision.

In other news, I headed back down to the land of alligators and fried pickles with a brief stop on the way in the land of early presidential primaries.

Charlotte International Airport - Concourse B (on right) and Concourse C (on left)

Charlotte-Douglas International Airport serves as a major hub for American Airlines since their acquisition last year of US Airways. A friend of mine used to live in Charlotte, and I'm pretty sure I spend more time here than have over the last year. The USO in the airport has the largest collection of challenge coins that I've ever personally witnessed. One of the volunteers told me today that word on the street is that Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport owns a bigger collection, but Charlotte was working to catch up. I'm happy to report that I added two coins to their collection over my last two trips. I picked up a ham sandwich and bottle of water and headed on down the road.

An afternoon arrival in Mobile, Alabama led to a relatively late night in the office. By the time the end of the day arrived, the lights of the city were shining in all their glory.

Mobile, AL Skyline at Night

The colors displayed on the building have shifted from the Mardi Gras theme of purple, gold, and green since the last time I traveled down here, and I welcome the change. The picture really doesn't do justice to the grandeur of a big city infrastructure with a small town feel. If it weren't for the heat, humidity, and alligators I might imagine myself living here one day. Even those aspects have their charm. As another friend of mine likes to point out, "You don't have to shovel heat." This phrase seems to pop up just after the Mid-Atlantic region falls on the receiving end of sixteen inches of snow. Tough to refute that logic. 

Habit coerces me to admit that I'm looking forward to reveling in astonishment when the day after today is revealed.

A Brief Contemplation of People

Today during my afternoon walk, I found my mind wandering around on the topic of people.  I'm not really sure what started this train of thought, but as soon as it took off I knew it was going to be an interesting journey.  One of the potential goals that Rory and I have during the course of the TCP is to really get to know interesting people.  When I read that last sentence, I'm struck by just how absurd it is because everyone, and I mean everyone I've ever met is endlessly fascinating and interesting.  There is absolutely no need to walk from Newport, RI to Newport, OR in order to meet interesting people.

In fact, just today on a less than four mile walk, I encountered a seemingly endless variety of humanity.  To describe them would be a deceit because frankly I know very little about any of them apart from their outward physical appearance.  This shallowest of surface views would be an injustice to even attempt to articulate when dealing with beings so complex that a single individual would be impossible to completely characterize if one took a lifetime attempting the task.

A sampling of the people I encountered on my walk today.

As I walked near these people, I found myself inventing narratives about what they were thinking and speculating as to why they did certain things that I saw.  I created whole cloth out of the imaginings in my head narratives to describe what I saw.  The traveller in the straw hat and blue shirt, the group of three friends headed back from their lunch, the lone thinker dealing with a particularly vexing issue in the park, the crane rigger heading back to work in a slightly weary way after a lunch break that was far too short, the Navy boys collaborating to implement the latest submarine design, the man walking in the floral print hat that his late wive had given him, the couple visiting Washington and not really enjoying their afternoon because of a late season uptick in heat, the Peace Corps volunteer returning from his latest assignment in Panama, and the lonely woman out walking her dogs and hoping for just the slightest contact from another of her fellow travellers.

All of those thoughts seemed very plausible, and some of the even took on the characteristics of being reality. I haven't the faintest idea if any of those small fictions were close to their reality, but I know that they were very much a part of my own.  The fact that my thoughts, however unknown to these people, had somehow become a part of their reality and at least in part were manifested upon them by me almost automatically was a sobering realization.

There are aspects of our collective separateness as well as clear evidence of our oneness that I find mind bendingly powerful.

I'm grateful for these people and the richness they added to my day.