Because I recently watched a documentary about labyrinths and got all excited about them, today I went on a labyrinth hunt. A labyrinth has been defined as “an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness [that] combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path” and is often used as a form of walking mediation. Anyway, there’s a website you can use to locate labyrinths, so this afternoon I visited two in Northwest Arkansas–the first at Washington Regional Medical Center, the second at Unity (Church) of Fayetteville.
Y’all, I may have found myself a new hobby.
Apparently there are two main styles of labyrinths–classical and medieval. The first labyrinth I visited, pictured above, is medieval. So is the one at Chartes Cathedral (a diagram of which is pictured in this post, also about labyrinths). Within these two categories, there are a lot of variations–for example, the labyrinth above has seven circuits or layers (my term), but the one at Chartres has eleven.
Like the definition I mentioned earlier, the documentary I watched said that part of the mystery of the labyrinth is its meandering path, the meandering path being akin to a winding river. The idea is that often it can feel like you’re going nowhere fast. But just as a “straight” river would gather too much speed, it’s necessary for our lives to slow down every now and then so we can have time to think about our priorities and sort out the past. This was my “big idea” while walking the first labyrinth. There’s no hurry here. There’s really nowhere to go. One place is as good as the next.
Before I walked the labyrinths, I spent the day reading a book by Marsha Sinetar called Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow. It was delightful, encouraging. For anyone interested in the topic, the book offers a lot of handy tips for HOW to do what you love, which is to say, how to take care of yourself. One example the book gave was of a man who REALLY wanted to leave his marriage but didn’t have the courage, so his therapist (the author) suggested practicing by leaving coffee dates and social engagements when HE wanted to rather than sticking around until everyone else had gone, which was his habit. The idea is that often it’s helpful to do something SYMBOLIC to let your psyche know–Hey, this is important. We’re making ourselves a priority now.
As I understand it, labyrinths are symbolic too, representing–among other things–the passage of time, death and resurrection, and personal and spiritual growth. One of the suggestions for walking a labyrinth is to start with a “problem” in mind and see if an answer presents itself by the time you get to the center. So since I’d just read a book about doing what you love and having the money follow, that was my chosen topic at the second labyrinth I walked–money. Like, Where is it?
For this labyrinth, since it was made of sand, I walked barefoot. This was an experience in and of itself. Every step was different. Sometimes my feet hit soft ground, sometimes hard. Sometimes the ground was shaded, cool. Sometimes it was directly in the sun, hot. This is life, this is our finances. Some days are easier than others. Things are always changing.
At the center of this labyrinth, oddly enough, I found a penny. Immediately I thought of all my conversations with my therapist and the affirmation she always suggests regarding abundance–I always have more than I need. Indeed, in that moment, this affirmation was true–I had more than I needed. What would I do with a penny in the middle of a labyrinth? Hell, what would I do with a hundred dollars in the middle of a labyrinth? (Nothing.)
And then–as if to drive home the point–something unexpected happened.
I’d just started my way out of the labyrinth, and a woman, a total stranger, approached me. It turns out she goes to church there. Anyway, she was working in their nearby garden and came over to say hello. Then she said, “Would you like some fresh tomatoes?” Then when I said, “I’d love some fresh tomatoes,” she left me a whole pile of them. Talk about making my day.
I always have more than I need.
Quotes from CoCo (Marcus)
"
Some days, most days, are a mixed bag. We cry, we laugh, we quit, we start again. That's life. In the process, we find out we're stronger than we thought we were, and perhaps this is healing.
"
