Oh, the places we’ll go! The things we’ll see and do!
It’s the official start of summer! Have you planned your next great adventure? It’s always exciting to dream about where you want to go, what you want to see, and maybe even what you want to accomplish.
Like any adventure, the excitement builds as your departure date nears. When the details are complete, all that is left to do is make the trip and enjoy it! True, some things may not turn out the way you might have planned, but what’s guaranteed is that your trip will be an adventure! So you jump right into it was no hesitation.
Italy: Finally re-visited!
I recently spent more than 3 full years planning for a return trip to Italy. I finally made it there in July 2023, after 3 previously-planned trips were canceled (thanks to COVID, and other life events.) I felt drawn to return to Italy following my initial visit there in the fall of 2018. That first trip was a small group excursion with Franciscan Spirit Tours, and included visits to Rome and Assisi (known for its most famous son, St Francis of Assisi), along with a day trip to Florence. It was a beautiful trip! For a number of years, I had felt some unknown connection to St Francis, and especially his relationship with animals. Who can’t name several gardens where the familiar statue of this man is prominently displayed? My initial Italian trip coincided with the annual ‘transitus’ celebration of Francis’ death on October 3, 1226. Thousands of people from all over the world make the pilgrimage to Assisi each year at this time.
As mentioned previously, I was raised Catholic, but am quick to point out I do not consider myself religious. I do, however, consider myself extremely spiritual, the result of many mystical experiences over the years, and my knowingness that we are part of the Greater Whole. The first night we arrived in Rome, our casual ‘get to know you’ conversation involved my fellow travelers expressing the more religious reasons they chose to make this journey, along with their desire to attend mass every day, particularly the one celebrated by the Pope himself. They were perplexed why I had even come on this Catholic-centric, ‘mass-filled’ pilgrimage as a long-time lapsed Catholic.
To me, I didn’t need to be a regular church-going person to appreciate the history, the ceremony and the incredible art this area held. The best I can describe being present in Assisi on my first visit, was that I felt a strong resonance to the place and its historical people. In fact, I believe strongly in the possibility of spending a prior lifetime in Italy at some point in my soul’s evolution. Do you ever have a strong sense like that, despite being unable to prove it? This was one of those times.
All in all, this initial group experience led me to want to return to Rome for a few days on my own in July 2023, followed by 9 days spent living within the walled town of Assisi (which dates back to the time ‘Before the Common Era’ aka before Christ.) I rented an apartment for my time there so I could simply experience the town of roughly 30,000 people at my leisure, meditate a bit, and journal. Despite being there during one of the worst heat waves possible (sweltering heat reached nearly 100 degrees most days and humid, and I actually passed out one night when I got up in the middle of the night,) I will definitely travel there again, when I have the chance.
Planning a new journey
So what places are on your own travel bucket list? Think about your last big travel excursion. Was it everything you dreamed of? What are your favorite memories of the places you traveled and the people you met? Ahh the sights, the people, the food! Were they everything you hoped they would be? How did your travels impact you? Will you have lasting memories to cherish forever?
Now, imagine if you could plan your next trip to be an even grander vacation than any before it! You’d likely spend a great amount of time reflecting on where you already gone and what other places and things are on your ‘bucket list.’ You’ll need to consider where you wanted to go next, and where you want to stay along each leg of your journey. Do you want to be in the U.S. or a foreign country? Do you prefer cities, or the countryside? Or do you hope to see a mix of both? Who do you plan to travel with? What things do you want to accomplish? How long do you want to stay?
Is this an experiential trip or one to simply recoup and relax? What exact experiences do you want to have while you’re there? What’s your itinerary? Who do you plan to see and meet along the way? How do you hope your interactions with others will go? Do you hope to positively impact everyone you meet along the way? And, just how long do you plan to stay in each location? Importantly, how long do you plan to spent traveling before you know that it’s time to go home? To make the most of your experiences, maybe you’ll need to rely on tour guides to help in the planning, routing, and other decisions along the way.
Developing Your Life Plan
Think about it, everything that is involved in planning for a vacation abroad is likely similar to your own life planning experience. Why should our time incarnated on planet Earth be any different?
Each of us, with the assistance of our team of Spirit Guides, and other advisors, plan out our lifetimes here on earth. We decide who we want to ‘travel’ with. And, what roles we will play in this adventure. Generally, the key players in our lifetime have ‘traveled’ with us in prior lives. Likely you had different roles in each other’s lives. You vary roles from lifetime to lifetime: father, mother, child, lover, best friend, favorite teacher, even your least-favorite person, the one that always rubs you the wrong way, is planned! Key roles have the most impact on our life, seemingly favorable or not. Of course, we plan all this with full knowledge of who we really are as spiritual beings, with absolutely love for all involved and with the knowledge of what lifetimes we have already experienced. From that vantage point, we can build on our learning and experiences, and truly grow as spiritual beings.
I like to think about each successive human lifetime as allowing us to climb the ‘spiritual ladder’ or spiritual dimensions, allowing us to progress as spiritual beings and move ever closer to our Source Creator with each successive mission. Generally, you can think about your lifetimes on Earth (or elsewhere, if you choose) as the aforementioned vacation, or something akin to the life of a Hollywood actor starring in a blockbuster hit movie. Or maybe the more appropriate analogy is to think about each lifetime as the furtherance of our spiritual university education. Each lifetime we matriculate to the next level, or grade, of greater challenge and learning. This isn’t a human 4-year college education, this spiritual university may take hundreds and hundreds of lifetimes to continue your education. And we relish every one!
We all play the starring role!
The genius of these trips is that each and every one of us is the lead actor in our own life production! And at the same time, we are the best supporting actor to others, as well as a bit player, or extra, in so many other lives that intersect with our own!
You’ve likely heard the saying that “people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.” While we enter each lifetime with ‘freewill’ all the major events in our life are planned by us for the greatest learnings we wish to accomplish ‘this time around.’ Yes, even major health events are chosen for personal reasons for our growth or the growth of those in our family or friend groups. Often we learn the most from adversity rather than the lifetime of only butterflies and rainbows.
Like the finest tapestry, or intricately-designed garment, requires all the colors and finest threads to fit perfectly together to create a masterpiece! So too, is the story of our own life. Whether we are aware or not, we are all connected together to make for the perfectly planned lifetime of experience to aid in our growth.
As major events happen in your life, think about what these events are here to teach us. And remain focused on the fact that at the core of our being we are all simply Love and Light. Let that Love shine brightly regardless of what you may be facing in your daily life right now. Let Peace and Love guide you along each step of your journey!