Following the Unexpected Path
It is shocking that I am an energy medicine practitioner. At least, to me it is. Five years ago, I would never have imagined that I would open my own energy healing business. Even sitting in the Level 1 Healing Touch class I could not have imagined it. Within ten minutes of class starting, the instructor explained the energy system: the chakras and auras. I sat there thinking, “What the heck am I doing here?! I have no idea what to think about chakras and auras!” It sounded so woo-woo and I struggled not to roll my eyes and heave deep sighs. But sometimes we are led down unexpected paths, and this was all Universal Energy/Source/God’s doing. On the surface, nothing about my previous experience prepared me for this change of career. I started in theatre administration, then moved to human services and finally stayed home for a number of years to raise my boys. But an undercurrent through it all was my contemplative practice.
Twenty years ago, as I learned a contemplative prayer practice, my hands seemed to catch fire while in contemplation. It was downright uncomfortable and when I asked my spiritual director about it, he said, “Someday you’ll be a healer.” I had no idea what he was talking about so I filed that comment in the back of my mind and forgot about it. Until about five years ago. The initial burning in my hands had faded after a couple of years, but five years ago, it came back—with a vengeance. It all came to a head one day when I chanced upon a page on the website of a local retreat center that featured the work of a Healing Touch practitioner. My hands caught on fire like never before. I had never heard of Healing Touch, but it was clear I needed to learn more. One episode of synchronicity followed another and the rest, as they say, is history.
If we allow ourselves to be led, we can land in the most unexpected places. Sometimes we get there through dramatic experiences like burning hands. Other times, the nudges are much quieter—a string of events that point in a particular direction, someone says something that sends our heart aflutter and ignites our passion, a longing that grows to the point that we cannot ignore it anymore.
The New Year invites us into reflection about our lives—to take stock of the past year and dream of unexplored paths in the New Year. The essential key is to pay attention. What is tugging at the corners of your awareness? Following the path that presents itself with openness and curiosity can lead to the most life changing and unexpected, yet delightful destinations.