Sacred Journeys

One of the bravest things I have done in my life was to travel alone to Iona, a tiny island in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland 21 years ago. As an objective fact, traveling alone doesn’t amount to much nor does traveling to Scotland, particularly not when you are 35 years old. The reason this trip was special for me was that it was the first time I traveled alone on an international trip to a completely new place where I didn’t know anyone. With just 300 British Pounds and no mobile phone. I had accepted an invitation to attend an international conference for women leaders with just three weeks to go. While the conference was spectacular and meaningful, it was the journey that makes my heart swell even today.

It took me 4 days to get there using almost all modes of transport – traveling by plane to London and Glasgow, by train from Glasgow to Oban, by ferry from Oban to Mull, by bus from the east of Mull to the west of Mull and then by another ferry to Iona. Every transition brought its share of challenges – managing the logistics of travel being the least of it.?

One experience stands out for me. I had to spend a day in Glasgow as I waited to make my connection by train to Oban. Once I had settled into my hotel room, I decided to see a bit of Glasgow on a hop off- hop on bus tour. Inwardly nervous, outwardly excited to see the world, I finally began to feel comfortable when I reached the Glasgow Cathedral. As I began to look around, an American couple on holiday came across to me and had a friendly conversation that ended with them inviting me to stay with them if I ever visited Buffalo in USA. Having taken photographs together and exchanged addresses, I began to feel light and relaxed and decided to walk to the next stop off point on the tour instead of waiting for the bus.?

As I began to walk, I could hear a man, possibly drunk, shouting on the opposite side of the road. I ignored the shouting and continued to walk and finally came to my stop. There was no one at the stop. Other than the man on the opposite side of the road. I was in my own world, just taking in the weather, the surroundings and the quiet when a lady joined me with her two children. She held one little child by hand and another one was in a pram.??She came up to me and said that she would wait with me till I got on to the bus because it was unsafe for me to be alone. She had noticed from her window that this man had been stalking me as I walked down the hill from the cathedral and hurling racist abuses. She had hurried down her apartment block as soon as I stopped at the bus stop. Listening to this, I was filled with fear for myself and simultaneously I felt deep love for this woman who had gone out of her way to help a stranger feel safe in her city.

Once I got on to my bus, I didn’t have the courage to see anything else. I literally ran to my room and locked myself in. In the minutes and the hours that followed, I kept bringing up the face of this kind woman who looked out for me every time I thought of the man who stalked me. The memory of the generosity I had received, even though I was a stranger, eventually overwhelmed my fears. I continued the rest of my journey armed with a feeling that I will find support when I need it and embraced my experiences openly.??For the rest of the duration of my stay in Scotland, I met generous, warm, and friendly people who were curious to learn about me and where I came and readily included me in their world.

The precious insight I gained through these travels was that?every challenging situation is accompanied by a life-giving element. All that is required of us is to recognise it and we then perceive a richer world. And it is that recognition that converts every journey into a hero’s journey.

“..the labyrinth is thoroughly known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. …where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the centre of our own existence; and where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with the world.”??- Joseph Campbell

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