“The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.”
― Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
This month we're going to be looking at the idea of place as a pilgrimage. Below, I'm going to offer some ideas for ways to think about your travel plans differently. Because going anyplace can seem like a pilgrimage if you think of it that way.
In the next issue, I'll share some thoughts about my work with the pilgrimage site known as Walden Pond. I'll also introduce you to a writer from one of my classes who has been writing about a Walden in his own backyard over the past year.
Place as Pilgrimage
Whatever your plans are this summer, I hope they include making a few jaunts to a special place or two that you've been missing over the past year. As we've been considering places to go ourselves, it makes me think about how each place holds its special quality: it’s medicine.
Mountains to me are uplifting, lakes are for dwelling deep, the ocean is for calming the nerves. Cities are for feeling the jazz of life and feeding my mind with fresh ideas. Historic sites are powerful for knitting together the past and present and making more sense of the world today. Where do you go that feels like it holds medicine for you?
People have always gone on pilgrimages, even if they do not formally use that word to define what they are doing. A pilgrimage can be spiritual, such as to Mecca or the Western Wall, but it can also be unique, such as to a favorite vacation spot or a family homestead. What makes it a pilgrimage is your intention.
Often people head out for a particular reason or activity like kayaking or hiking. Beyond the practical or functional role a place holds, the desire to go there can be drawn from much more than the activities you plan to do. You could head out with a question in mind (notice how the word “quest” is part of the word question!) and see how a place holds an answer to your question. It can if you’re listening.
Places can hold medicine for us. They can sooth something inside us we didn’t even know needed soothing until we’ve arrived. We feel ourselves exhale or come to life again. We take in the smells, sights and sounds. We come to our senses.
A first step is just noticing: What are the places you feel drawn to visiting right now? Do you have a sense why? Your pull could be towards any kind of experience: from a national park to a painting in a museum. Each place might have a particular meaning for you.
Journal This:
Imagine a place you feel drawn to go this summer.
What specific qualities does that place hold for you?
Why do you think you’re drawn to travel there?
Does it have some quality of nourishment for you?
When you write about your connections to places, you'll tap into a powerful source of ideas and imagery inside you. You will uncover some surprises that become jumping points for stories. You'll glean specific, descriptive details that add polish to any writing you are working on or help you find new directions to follow with your writing.
I've seen huge shifts happen when people start to write about places that matter to them.
And there’s something about writing with a group during a defined time and space that helps you take questions like the ones above to another level. Our next class starts July 7th.
