Let Belonging Find You
Feeling welcome in the world is challenging in an isolationist culture, especially one that’s been extra isolated for two, long pandemic years. But stepping out our doors and feeling at home in the world is vital to our ability to come fully alive, to manifesting what we most desire. We are not alone, and we cannot realize our dreams without each other and the wild Earth.
When we feel welcome in the world, rooted in the truth that we matter, then we will claim (over and over again) that seat at the table waiting for us. The one that can only be filled by us.
Recently, I was feeling a bit unwelcome. I noticed a corner of my heart still prone to collapse when I conspire to more fully belong, especially amongst my fellow humans.
So, I went wandering in Nature, looking for a welcoming place. A place from which I might learn from the overwhelmingly hospitable nature of the wild world. A place where I could listen and share what I know about my own seat at the table and my fear of that seat.
Although a vast cultural disconnection from nature has many convinced that nature is not, in fact, hospitable, my experience is the total opposite. Thousands of hours spent wandering in the wild, including in “dangerous” places like the desert, has shown me that.
So here’s your invitation to go on a Welcome Wander, should you feel yourself unwelcome in any way, at any time. It’s also a wonderful practice if you, yourself, would like to be more welcoming to something or someone in your life.
Welcome Wander: A SACRED STROLL IN NATURE
If you’re new to wandering, you might enjoy my 7 Steps for Sacred Strolls In Nature, which includes important safety tips and ways to weave reverence into your experience. These tips can greatly enhance your chances of a mystical, healing or transformational experience.
Give yourself a set amount of time. An hour (less travel time) should suffice. You may like to keep it very local for this one. The more welcome you feel in your immediate surroundings, the more co-supportive the relationship becomes between you and the Land that holds you.
Walk for a bit, letting mental chatter dissipate. Once feeling clear enough, begin to look for a threshold crossing. This could be a stick or a space between two trees. Pause, greet the Land and announce aloud your intention. In this case, to find or be found by a very welcoming place. To cross this threshold is to enter non-ordinary reality. Stay alert and open. Wander in and begin to notice everything more than you usually would. Use your senses more than your mind. See, smell, touch, taste (when safe to do so), listen.
At any point, you may be find or be found by this welcoming place. You will know it when you see it. Trust the feeling of “this is it.” It could be a ladybug on a leaf. It could be a truck overgrown with flowering vines! In other words, it may or may not be obviously welcoming, may be tiny or big. The important thing is to trust your knowing, trust the way it welcomes you in this particular moment.
Sometimes, we are not found by what we seek. That’s ok too. Tomorrow’s another day.
If you are found by such a place, settle yourself into this place in whatever way seems fitting. Without any interpretation, begin to notice: what is welcoming about this place? How do you feel in your body? Who lives here? What’s happening or happened or about to happen here? This noticing can be incredibly rich; it may be all you “do” on this wander.
When you feel ready, introduce yourself to this place. Let it know why you’ve come. Thank this place for having you as its guest. If you wish, ask permission to talk to this place about your specific struggles in feeling welcome in the world (or in being welcoming to someone or something in your life). Speak of the belonging you seek. Then, really listen, again with all your senses.
You may hear nothing at all. Being witnessed without anyone offering us advice or opinions is a magnificent gift; it allows our own truth to ring out clear and untouched. Trust what you do or do not hear.
When it feels like it’s time to go, it probably is. You may like to leave an offering. A song, poem, flowers or herbs, or a simple gesture of gratitude. Thank this welcoming place in your own way. Wander back, keeping the mood reverent and holding what you’ve received like you would a dream you don’t want to forget.
Like a shamanic journey, it’s important to cross a threshold again on your way out. If you’ve come back a different way, just look for another threshold crossing. When you arrive at this imaginal gate, pause once again, and end the wander in whatever simple words or gestures feel right to you. Once you cross this threshold, you’re officially back in everyday consciousness.
Jot down your experience as soon as possible. Over coming days, weeks, or even years, reflect with gentle reverence on this experience. What revelations do you want to remember? Was anything asked of you? Actions you need to take or questions to live?
belonging is a lifelong dance with our place in the great family of things.
Cultivating Belonging is one of the 5 thresholds of transformation we cross in my Wild Becoming Immersion— a quest in hearing & heeding your soul’s calling while healing patriarchal wounds to your creative process. I associate Belonging with the Summer-phase of our creative process— a time when the whole world proclaims its belonging. This happens for us not only in actual summertime, but in cycles within cycles throughout our lives. The full moon is a summery time of the month, for example, and so a great time for cultivating your sense of belonging through this wander.