Same Path Different Journeys - June 21

In today's 5 Minutes in Nature, Liz reflects on a moment of unexpected sadness when her pilgrimage companion completes the walk without her. As she sits with that feeling rather than pushing it away, something shifts. She begins to see that although they walked the same path, they were each on their own distinct journey — and in that understanding, both peace and a deeper companionship were found.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me, Liz Scott. If you've been following me over the last few days, Then you'll know I've been on a pilgrimage. It was a pilgrimage that was meant to be three days of walking, About 35, 38 miles, Something like that. Unfortunately, The middle day was rained off. It was gales, It was a storm, Unseasonable weather, But it was just too bad to walk. Across the heart of Dartmoor in weather like that. So I was walking with my sister. So we walked the first day, We missed the second day, And then yesterday was the last day that we'd allocated for this walk, Which meant that we hadn't completed the pilgrimage. Today, The pilgrimage still keeps on giving. And I'm going to share what happened today, Because there's a little bit of a resonance of what we were talking about yesterday, About this idea that all paths bring you back to the same place. My sister and I had two very different ways of approaching this pilgrimage. My sister had a real sense that she wanted to complete the mileage, The walk, In the time that we had allocated and she had a bit of a restlessness about her that we didn't manage to do it and that she wanted to find a date that we could complete it and it looked like it was going to be tricky to do that anytime soon. And so out of the blue this morning I get a phone call from her saying that she was on her way driving on her way up to complete the pilgrimage today so we'd been walking for two days together and then she was going to complete this pilgrimage today and she was on her way to do it and it was completely unexpected and my first response once I put the phone down was to feel deeply upset and sad And I cried. I was like, Oh, This just didn't feel right. This didn't feel like the way I'd expected things to turn out. And then this really beautiful experience happened to me and I can take no credit for it because it wasn't as though I, Liz, Was making it happen. But I went from feeling a real sense of sadness and frustration and anger because in my world we were walking this together and I thought we were going to finish it together. Together. To feeling this spaciousness, I didn't do anything to make it happen. It arose within me. And I realized that the pilgrimage was still showing me different lessons for me to see. And the first lesson, And this is what I want to share with you, Is the key lesson from today, Is that whilst my sister and I were walking on the same path, We were walking the same landscape, We were walking the same route, We were actually on two different journeys. Her journey was one to complete it to sort of get that sense of completion and I know that feeling I've had it too sometimes on walks and things that I go on. But mine was about being in the landscape, Pausing, Having time to reflect, And just have a bit of time to process. So we were on two completely journeys. She wanted to finish it. She wanted to do high mileage in order to complete it. I was much more like, This is a journey of me reflecting, Being present to the land, Having moments where I fall into the sacredness of the landscape. So we were walking the same path, But we were on two different journeys. And that's what I really see today as I look back. So my heart is really settled as I reflect with you today. I just found myself falling out of anxious, Unsettled thinking back into love. And from that space of love, I know I can navigate in the world. So today's reflection is for you to contemplate where in life maybe you are following the same path as somebody, But you're on two separate journeys. An ace. And maybe you can compromise and you can find a workaround because being together and being on that journey together is more important than either of you having the journey go a particular way. But also be open that maybe it's time to park company. Maybe you've travelled as far as you can together and now it's time to continue that journey in the way that feels most honouring to you. I would love to know your reflections and don't forget to join me again tomorrow for another 5 minutes in nature.

Reviews

This concept applies to all levels of relationships-nations, cities, neighbors, co-workers, friends, romantic partners. It can be very hard to recognize and, when necessary, to let go…🙏🏻💜thanks Liz.

To recognize that two are on the same path , yet on different journeys… insightful. Thank you.