The Ground
Finding our Footing
After exploring The Path, The Lantern, The Mirror, The Compass and The Inner Hearth, we arrive here with a greater awareness of ourselves and what we carry. We have explored what we bring with us, what we carry, the resources our experiences have given us, the possibilities before us, and what helps us trust ourselves.
Now we pause, find our footing, and begin to consider where we might go next.
Finding our footing doesn't mean having all the answers. It means becoming aware enough of ourselves to make choices from where we are, trusting that we can pause, turn around, change direction and begin again whenever we need to.
The Ground is fundamentally about knowing and trusting yourself.
“I choose myself.”
Way-Marker 1 : What to Pack
We don't leave ourselves behind when we begin a journey. We bring our experiences, beliefs, qualities, fears, hopes, habits and resources with us.
The question is : Who and what are you bringing with you?
Remember nothing you bring with you is good or bad, we are simply becoming aware of what is travelling with us.
The aim is to become aware of everything that travels with us — our body, emotions, experiences, beliefs, stories, habits, hopes and resources.
Explorers Consideration
We have practised Acceptance at The Doorway, explored What the Light Reveals in The Lantern, met ourselves in The Mirror, and Gathered the different parts of ourselves in The Inner Hearth.
Now take some time to become aware of what you are bringing with you.
What experiences, beliefs, emotions, qualities, hopes, fears, habits and resources are travelling with you?
You don't need to change anything. Just become aware.
Way-Marker 2 : The Things We Carry
When we become aware of what is travelling with us, we can begin to explore how each part feels to carry. What feels light? What feels heavier?
The aim is to become aware of what feels light and what feels heavy, without judging either. Some parts of us may simply need more attention than others.
Explorers Experiment
On a piece of paper, draw three columns and name them Light, Medium and Heavy.
Look back at the things you identified in What to Pack. Which feel light to carry? Which feel heavier? Place them in the column that feels right.
There may be some that don't fit neatly into any column. That's okay.
Imagine each column is a different-coloured backpack.
What would it feel like to carry each one?
Way-Marker 3 : Inner Resources
The experiences we have through our lives each bring their own unique weight. They could be heavy, but precious, light, but unhelpful, necessary to our wellbeing, or just lovely to have along as a companion.
The aim is to become aware of the qualities and resources our life experiences have given us.
Explorers Consideration
Take a moment to stop here for a while and consider some of your life experiences.
What did they give you?
What did you give them?
What do you feel in your body when you remember each one?
Way-Marker 4 : The Map
We have looked at what we might bring, what we carry, and what we have with us already. Now, where might we go? What should we explore first?
The aim is to understand that we don't have to explore every landscape straight away. We can look in each direction and choose what feels interesting or right for us, knowing we can always turn around, go back, and start again.
Explorers Experiment
Explore a time when you had to make a difficult decision. Close your eyes and remember the different options. Become aware of how each one felt in your body. What helped you make your decision?
Explorers Consideration
This may be a good time to remember that we can return to a previous waypoint whenever we need to.
Return to The Compass. Maybe your bearings have changed.
Return to your Inner Hearth. Perhaps you need to sit quietly with yourself before deciding.
Way-Marker 5 : Trusting The Journey
To use a metaphor you may come across in future journeys, ‘a river does not need to see the ocean to know where it is going’.
We cannot see the future, but we can become aware of what we trust within ourselves as we choose our way forward.
The aim is to understand what we trust within ourselves.
Explorers Experiment
Consider an action you want to take.
It could be as simple as ‘I want to buy a new pair of shoes’ ,‘I want to try a new recipe for dinner’, or maybe ‘I would like to go on holiday somewhere different this year’.
Break it down into five or six little questions, for example 'What colour shoes do I want? What are they going to be used for? How often will I wear them? What size heel?’ Etc.
Now write down the answer to each question and then write down where that answer came from. Did you choose the answer based on previous experience? When and where did you gain that experience? What feeling is associated with the experience?
At what point did you trust yourself enough to choose?
Way-Marker 6 : Stepping Forward
Coming Full Circle
We are deliberately ending The Explorers Threshold Journey with Stepping Forward, the same way-marker words with which the Journey began.
At the beginning, stepping forward was an act of choosing to begin. Now, after travelling through the Threshold, it becomes an invitation to take the next step with greater self awareness.
We have not arrived at a destination. We have arrived at a different relationship with ourselves as we continue the journey.
We come full circle — but we don't come back to where we started.
