Today I set forth on a travel adventure, heading “Down South, Back East” to the Big City of Toronto.<\/p>\n
I spent ten years of my youth in Toronto and a couple of years in my 30’s living just outside of it, commuting into the city for work and play, and I find great comfort there.<\/p>\n
Lots of people do not like the place but I still love Toronto with all of my heart. It no longer feels like home but rather like an old friend I can return to who will take me in and entertain me for as long as I wish to stay.<\/p>\n
I will also spend a few days in Port Hope, a little town about an hour east of TO. That’s where I lived for two and a half years after leaving Montreal and before moving back to the Yukon. My mother’s family lives there and I still have close friends in the region. It, too, will be a homecoming of sorts, and I am looking forward to re-connecting with folks.<\/p>\n
Travel, as I have mentioned before on this blog, can be an anxiety-inducing experience. The loss of routine is challenging. We’re out of our comfort-zone, we have to rely on other people, we have to get inside large metal tubes that fly through the sky. My prayer life becomes very rich when I travel!<\/p>\n
I once wrote an article about walking through fear and in it I described my experience of being on an airplane and being terrified to die. My only recourse was total surrender. I let go of my life. I accepted that it was time for me to go. I said good-bye to all I knew and loved (sobbing as quietly as I could so as not to alarm the person beside me) and I actually grieved my own death.<\/p>\n
It was a life-altering experience.<\/p>\n
What was most amazing is that out of this came a desire to be of use. As my fear fell away I found myself asking for the courage to help someone else. The removal of my self-centred terror brought a genuine willingness to be of service.<\/p>\n
To know that I could take action against fear by serving the greater good of my fellow passengers was a revelation. That sense of purpose I discovered, and not just on planes but in everyday life, can truly free us of our fear.<\/p>\n
Of course, we didn’t crash and I’ve since been on dozens of other flights. But the experience has stayed with me and whenever I’m on a flight and get scared we’re not going to make it I re-visit this healing process. It works on the ground, too!<\/p>\n
Today’s Inspiring Message of the Day was sent to me by a friend. It’s lovely.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026When you travel<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n A new silence<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Goes with you,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And if you listen,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n You will hear<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n What your heart would<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Love to say.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201c\u2026A journey can become a sacred thing:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Make sure, before you go,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n To take the time<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n To bless your going forth,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n To free your heart of ballast<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n So that the compass of your soul<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Might direct you toward<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The territories of spirit<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Where you will discover<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n More of your hidden life,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And the urgencies<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n That deserve to claim you.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~ excerpt from John O\u2019Donohue’s \u201cFor the Traveler\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today I set forth on a travel adventure, heading “Down South, Back East” to the Big City of Toronto. I spent ten years of my youth in Toronto and a couple of years in my 30’s living just outside of it, commuting into the city for work and play, and I find great comfort there.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","category-motivation","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}