A Roadmap to Get Here
Photography by Peachhouse Productions
I don’t believe there’s one path to love. There are many paths to love’s universal truth, thousands even. Your footsteps will take you in a different direction than mine. You will begin in a unique place and encounter people who will shape who you are. Some people will walk with you and some will challenge you. You may be forced off your path or decide to take a completely different way than you planned. You must forge your own way at times. You might be carrying more than you need as you learn lessons of finding freedom on the path you are on.
In the end, we will have stories to tell of the things we have seen, the rivers we have crossed, and the obstacles we have overcome. Some of us will be so tired and some of us will be at ease. But hopefully, all of us can share and respect one another for the bravery it took to get here.
When I was in high school, I was enrolled in a Comparative Religion class at our community college for college credit. My world was shifting and I had burning curiosity of what was out beyond my familiar path. I wanted to know what other people had seen and learned as they made their way forward or sometimes backward. I learned about Hinduism, Buddhism, ancient Egyptian religion, Taoism, and much more. I was so inspired by branching out and started to gain my own perspective. With that new perspective, a metaphor emerged.
I saw a wide and tall mountain in my mind’s eye, and I saw this mountain with so much clarity. In this analogy, every human being starts at the bottom of the mountain at birth. There is no way to know who else is on this mountain other than who is around you. You might be on the complete other side of the mountain than me without knowing the other exists until our paths cross. It is impossible to predict who you may meet on the path, and it can change the entire course of how you get up the mountain. Everyone will gather different experiences, songs and stories, but all are trying to make their way up. You might have different language than me. Some stories will be told and some will not. Some stories will be lost in translation and some will be revered as true. Some of us will fight and some of us will hide. Humanity will continue the path upward. At the peak of this mountain, love exists in its full and true capacity.
Whether you accept someone else’s path or pave your own, both can lead you to the top of the mountain.
This analogy has stayed with me ever since I thought of it. It’s helped me understand my own beliefs and has given me permission to explore a world that once felt rigid or dualistic. I find beauty in all the footsteps of those who choose to climb the mountain to love. One of my stories might even sound like one of your stories and we can learn from each other. We can sing, celebrate, cry, and grieve together. We will rest back deeper and deeper into love as we look down at the immense effort it took to get here. What a view that will be.
