Stillness 10-26: We tend to be very goal-oriented. Whether we’re crossing off tasks on a list or defining and refining a five-year plan, our tendency as humans is to hike, move, explore, and when we’ve reached a summit there always seems to be another one to try to reach.
When I lived in Greece, our house was on the back of a marble-encrusted and thyme-softened mountain, where goats and wild dogs roamed the red earth, sparkling rocks, and sparse olive shrubs. One day, we decided to climb to the top of the mountain. It took many hours, and I remember getting very tired but also very excited at the idea that I’d be able to see the whole world from the top. Because that is what the climb felt like: I was going to a place of accomplishment and completion. We would reach the summit!
When we finally got there, however, the view was so disappointing it made me want to cry. There were just more mountains, sweeping like great dry waves, endlessly ahead of me. It was one of my early metaphysical lessons about life being a journey, not a destination. Setting goals are good, like setting a goal of hiking a mountain, but thinking that reaching the summit is the reason for the goal is where we can become supremely disappointed.
The meaning of the word “summit” implying “heads of state” originated in 1950 by the wonderfully metaphoric Winston Churchill, who described his meeting with several other government leaders as “a parley at the summit.” The phrase stuck and now summits are conferences as much as they are mountain peaks.
Speaking of summits, I’ve been asked to be part of a healing summit in November and want to invite you to join. It’s a parley of healers who will share knowledge about their various healing modalities with you, as well as offering a guided meditation, and, in my case, an actual tarot reading. Just as hiking to the summit is about the journey, so this summit is a wonderful opportunity to explore paths that may intrigue you, like sound healing, animal communication, or crystals. Here is a link where you can find out more.