The Path Ahead
There is what I can see and what I can’t see.
There are the things I am definitely planning for and the things I am imagining.
There are things that I know and things that I am only hoping for.
“Home on the road”
I felt like it was time for an update. Last I reported I had rescheduled my planned trip to walk the Camino in Spain and meet with leaders of the British Pilgrimage Trust in Britain. Some of you may recall that after a January pickle ball injury that was more severe than originally thought, I had to postpone the trip by four months. I also had thrown out the teaser that I was outfitting a camper to be ready to “take my show on the road,” so to speak.
Since those announcements the picture of this entrepreneurial, mission-driven, slightly nutty vision to create a pilgrimage culture in America has become a little clearer. Okay, less blurry is probably a more accurate description. I won’t get ahead of myself!
I am going to organize my thoughts below in two categories—the things that I think I know and the things am exploring and imagining, but don’t yet have a plan for.
Here are the things that I think I know:
I know I am going to the 5-day Songwriter’s Soiree in St. Helena on July 26. For five days I will join about 100 other songwriter’s in a camp like experience supporting each other, applauding each other and discovering my own unique soulful voice.
2. I know I am going to provide the program for the week-long family camp at Seabeck Camp and Conference Center. I’ll be exploring with the 250 participants the theme of “Life as Pilgrimage.” Expect a handful of blog posts as I share my teaching from the camp experience with all of you. If all goes well I will also be making this a regular retreat offering.
3. I know that I am going to enjoy a little father/son bonding time as we fly together to Wisconsin for a family wedding at the end of August. My dad is 90 years old and we have my dad’s wife, Arlene, to thank for prodding us take this trip together while my dad still has the health to travel.
4. I know I will flying to Paris on September 1 with a plan to walk the Camino Frances over a six-week period. There I will be having my own Camino experience, and also interviewing, and taking pictures and videos with the goal of creating a multi-media presentation upon my return. That multi-media production will my first formal offering to start nurturing a pilgrimage culture and infrastructure on this side of the Big Water.
5. I know I will be meeting with the leaders of the British Pilgrimage Trust in Britain at the end of October. There, I will be exploring the hostel infrastructure they have already put in place in churches along the approximately 75 pilgrimage routes there.
6. I know I will be taking a one-week training the first week of December with the organization Rites of Passage as I discern whether to work toward a certification as a wilderness guide with attention to soul work that I can apply to more adventurous pilgrimages.
Here are the things that I am exploring and imagining (but don’t really know yet):
I am working with a couple of rental agencies and people to see whether it is possible to cover the expenses of my house for any periods when I am on the road or out of the country. I have already done the math. If I can cover the costs of my home I have enough resources to live and work on the road without expecting income from the work. This gives me the freedom to focus exclusively on my vision without worrying about income. This is not an advertisement to offer my services for free. It’s just a plan to make sure I have the freedom to focus exclusively on this vision.
2. I have a period of approximately six months between November, 2023 and April, 2024 where I have no commitments except the one wilderness guide training. I may use that to secure some income over that period to slow the drain on my savings. I may also begin working on my “From Rome to Rumi” manuscript, the book about my 3,000-kilometer pedal pilgrimage from the Vatican in Rome to Rum’s Tomb in Konya, Turkey back in 2014.
THE BIG LAUNCH—If all goes the way I am imagining it, I will take the months of May, June, July of next year to cycle the 4,100 miles of the Lewis and Clark Trail building the momentum for putting a pilgrimage infrastructure on this route. As I imagine it now I will invite others to cycle sections of the trail with me, meet with Chambers of Commerce, churches, and tribal leaders to explore how the Lewis and Clark Trail could be developed to address and heal from the great pain and poisoned relationship between those of us who are descendants of white European colonizers and native populations. Obviously, I am touching an important and sensitive nerve that will require many more blog posts and conversations.
One more thing I “know”—I need to get my calf and my body back into “Ironman” shape. I don’t know how many more 4,000-mile treks I have in this old body, but the Lewis and Clark Trail is calling me and I’ll be damned if a stupid pickle ball injury is going to get the last word!
Yes, I am stubborn and determined. Deal with it.
This is the path ahead.
All plans and imaginings subject to change.
Brian Heron
Cultural Innovator and Spiritual Pilgrim