I remember sitting in a 12 step meeting some years ago and during our opening circle one of the members asked if he could read something about pioneers and settlers. We all agreed and so he shared a passage. I don't remember exactly what was read but the idea has stuck with me ever since. And now, during this period of time in our lives when so many people I know are resolving core issues, I feel it is time to once again talk about what it means to be a spiritual pioneer.

Spiritual pioneers are those who blaze new trails through their undiscovered country. Sometimes the journey is easy, sometime arduous, often filled with feelings of fear and aloneness. But the journey is worth the effort when, after hacking a path through the thick dark jungle, a hidden piece of ourselves is revealed. When this piece is held up to the light, we realize it for the beautiful gem is really is. We hold it and cherish it. We can choose to either keep it, leave it or transform it. We always learn from it when we are open.

In journeying within ourselves, which is perhaps not only the most difficult journey to make but certainly the most important, we bring along guides who are familiar with the territory. For me, those guides include my partners in healing, my feelings and in particular, my fear. My partners in healing may have been to only some of the places I'm going; it is my fear which is my compass. It is my fear which tells me when I'm getting close to that dark place which holds a gem.

Once I started using bodywork as a tool for accessing emotional memories in my body, I found pathways opening up for me to follow. None of them had signs which read, "this way to this particular memory or feeling". Instead, the pathways revealed themselves progressively, much as trails do through the woods or in canyons. As I lay on the massage table receiving bodywork, my mind would pick a path and wander down it. Soon, I felt undefined feelings start to bubble to consciousness and messages would come to me. Sometimes the messages were directly related to the feelings surfacing, often they were "I don't want to go there" or "I'm too tired to go on." If I listened to these latter messages then I found that whatever feelings that were surfacing would begin to fade. My fear was protecting me from something painful. It was also showing me that, here, there was something of value for me to look at. So, I did continue. And I felt tired, and afraid. The feelings came up along with the associated memories and images. And then things started to make sense in my life, why I had done certain things or why things would trip me up. That understanding brought me closer to peace. Tension began leaving my body and I started having more energy.

Part of being a pioneer is to acknowledge that there are times when we want to high tail it back to familiar territory. We have become vulnerable. In becoming vulnerable we open ourselves to the gifts the universe has for us. We also open ourselves to the risk that this unfamiliar terrain holds things which are uncomfortable to feel and not pretty to look at. It may be that we'll learn something which we don't want to know exists or was even possible. It is at this time when it is important not to walk the path alone but to share it with someone with whom we can trust our vulnerability.

The other part of being a pioneer is our commitment to see ourselves through the journey to gather those buried treasures. We have decided to embark on this journey, now is the time to act, to enlist our guides' aid and to strike out on the path. It is this commitment to healing and honoring ourselves which separates us from those who choose to remain behind the protective walls.

We as spiritual pioneers, in opening up our paths in the wilderness for ourselves are also providing new paths for those around us to travel. How many times, in our searches in our healing, have we brought back new information to our friends and healers? And, how much has this new information helped our friends or was incorporated in our healers' work which is then available to guide others in their healing journeys?

How do you know you're a spiritual pioneer? Remember a time when you took, even a tiny step through the wall of resistance and came back with something which helped you feel better. Now look at yourself in the mirror, smile, and say to yourself, "I'm a spiritual pioneer."

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