Inside the Seeker’s Journey || By Rev. Mary Coday Edwards, MA
And you, when will you begin that long journey into yourself? -Rumi
Journey is the metaphor often used to make sense of the twists and turns along our life’s experiences and into those we take into our psyche’s unconscious or soul (1). These include the heroine’s journey, the hero’s, and the night-sea—all complex journeys toward health and wholeness.
Good novels and movies provide us examples of these journeys:
Either by coercion or choice, our hero leaves their familiar surroundings and goes out into unknown territory; through their experiences, trials, and obstacles, they emerge transformed. Our hero has been challenged in the way they understand themselves and the world they live in. Think Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. The global, cross-cultural success of Star Wars reveals how millions could relate to its characters and universal and enduring themes.
The journey presents opportunities for our protagonist to be the adult, to take responsibility for their actions, to leave behind an unexamined world picture that wasn’t serving them anymore, or have the courage to live who they truly are. In my own life, which I wrote about in my book, To Travel Well, Travel Light (3), I had wrong and destructive beliefs about God and about myself. I was compelled to make serious changes toward health and wholeness. The patriarchal religion of my young adulthood said, “Onward and upward! If you’ve hit a brick wall, well, you must not be pleasing God! And let ME tell you what you can do to please God, I will tell you everything about you that is wrong, that you need to change.”
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SEEKER’S PATH
Its basic premise is that we retain the most helpful of our past life. It served us well but now life’s circumstances have changed. We make adjustments in order to bring purpose and meaning into our lives.
The Seeker’s Journey will require us to change course. Not because the previous was misguided or wrong, but because our circumstances have changed.
1-THE SEEKER BEGINS THE JOURNEY WITH A FUNCTIONAL AND MEANINGFUL WORLDVIEW
I did not have that; mine included the silencing and annihilation of a large part of who I was in order to fit into the religious worldview I found myself immersed in. A worldview includes beliefs that provide meaning to and an understanding of how one fits into one’s reality—beliefs about Ultimate Reality, an understanding of themselves, and how they fit into one’s reality.
The seeker also experiences a fulfilling balance between a feeling of belonging and a sense of agency. In other words, while they may feel comfortable with their family, in their professional capacity, or a religious institution, they retain the ability to be themselves and to say and do what they think even if it disagrees with the majority opinion within the group.
They have a way of being that helps them make sense of and navigate life’s idiosyncrasies; it gives them a sense of wholeness (as defined in this blog).
2-SOMETHING CHANGES ABOUT THE SEEKER AND/OR THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES.
This is a good reminder about life. When we end up with a sense of wholeness in our hero/heroine’s journey, it doesn’t mean it will translate into wholeness for the rest of our lives, for all possible futures. The woman (or man) who has willingly devoted herself to staying at home to raise her children while her partner became the primary breadwinner now finds herself at a new stage in life as her children have grown. Circumstances have changed. What brought her purpose and meaning has left the nest. It wasn’t that it was false, only that it no longer works.
3-THE SEEKER RECOGNIZES THAT A DISCONNECT EXISTS BETWEEN THEIR REALITY AND THEIR WORLDVIEW.
This awareness can be consciously or unconsciously, gradually or suddenly. Perhaps dreams begin to disturb their sleep.
4-THE SEEKER BEGINS AN INTENTIONAL EXPLORATION FOR A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THEIR REALITY.
This requires self-examination of one’s values. Some updating may be necessary, a shift in focus. The stay-at-home parent of the above may decide nurturing oneself is of importance now, and will explore ways to make that change.
5-TRANSFORMATION
Transformation is not the same as change. And It isn’t just seeing life differently; it’s being different. A caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. Twenty years ago, I had an epiphany when I understood how I was interrelated with all species and ecosystems at a cosmic level, but I am still working that out as a way of being, as transformative. Constantly I bring that wisdom to the forefront of my consciousness. It includes more than deciding to recycle.
Knowing that everything I thought of as solid—my chair, my table, a rock—is really a wave of energy versus mass requires a retraining of my brain’s neural routines.
Summarizing, just because your life of today and its direction seems at odds with your past, it doesn’t mean that you missed it getting to this point. The Seeker’s Journey starts with recognizing that you had a functioning worldview, one that gave your life meaning and purpose. Then life’s circumstances changed—as is normal.
The seeker recognizes a disconnect, a divergence. Adjustments are in order; perhaps the seeker will experiment with different avenues. And transformation does happen. It may take a while or it may be near spontaneous.
Don’t let discouragement get the best of you. See these hiccups in life as times for growth and transformation, for you to take what your beliefs are and turn them into enacted values, actions, and statements.
Note that the psyche has its own values and goals—especially when it’s time for our seeker’s journey.
PRACTICES OF THIS PATH
Pay attention and sit mindfully with whatever surfaces. Don’t panic. Affordable counseling is available through People House. Get help when needed!
Notes & Sources:
- By “soul,” I do not mean from a Christian perspective, but that deepest part of you. Carl Jung believed the soul was a part of the psyche, the psyche defined as the whole of one’s being, conscious and unconscious. Clarissa Pinkola Estés refers “to the soul aspect of the psyche by many names, including the true self, the instinctual nature … all these separate from the small ‘ego of appetites and ambitions’ that may serve its own purpose—but by no means is ego to be the leader of the enormous psyche.” https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2017/03/clarissa-pinkola-estes
- Edwards, Mary Coday. To Travel Well, Travel Light: An Adventure Memoir of Living Abroad and Letting Go of Life’s Trappings: Material Possessions, Cultural Blinders, and a Patriarchal Christian Worldview. 2022; SBNR Press.
- Jackson, Savannah.; ed. assistance by Nancer Ballard. “The Seeker Journey; Seeking a New Arc,” The Heroine Journey’s Project. March 8, 2022. https://heroinejourneys.com/2022/03/08/the-seekers-journey-seeking-a-new-arc/
About the Author: Award-winning author Rev. Mary Coday Edwards is a Spiritual Growth Facilitator and People House Minister. A lifelong student of spirituality, Mary spent almost 20 years living, working, and sojourning abroad in Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Latin America before finding her spiritual connection at People House and completing its Ministerial Program. Past studies include postgraduate studies from the University of South Africa in Theological Ethics/Ecological Justice, where she focused on the spiritual and physical interconnectedness of all things. With her MA in Environmental Studies from Boston University, abroad she worked and wrote on environmental sustainability issues at both global and local levels. In addition to working in refugee repatriation, she was an editor for international, English print, daily newspapers in Indonesia and Mexico.
