And I’ve always worked on the principle that if it interests me enough to write about it, then it must interest a lot of other people.
Morris West

I have long been interested in the various journeys we take seeking profound depth in the human experience. At some point, in our lives, we experience a yearning for more; more than what we have accomplished, more than we have experienced, more than we have allowed ourselves to appreciate along the way.     
                                                     
Peggy Lee once sang Is That All There Is written by legendary Rock and Roll lyricists Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller recalling the experience of a girl’s father grabbing her out of bed in the night and fleeing their burning home. Afterward in safety she recalls staring at the burning house and thinking, “Is that all there is to a fire?” The song continued with other potentially terrifying experiences in a child’s life ending each verse with the words, “Is that all there is…if that’s all there is then let’s keep dancing (living)”. There are many fears and terrifying thoughts that we have in our lives, but most of them tend to only be terrifying to contemplate. When we end up going through the experience we come out with a deeper sense of trust and appreciation for the workings of the universe. This is not to say that there are not legitimate things to fear in life, but fear is often a door to a deeper experience in the journey.
 
Many of the experiences we have in life serve as doors opening to deeper appreciation for the nuance, and mystery of life itself. This nuance is clearly expressed in literature, music and art. Poet Danny Rosen calls it a growing hunger. There is a growing hunger that we begin to notice as we travel the highways and byways that open to us. This hunger carries us deeper into the very experience of living and the mystery behind it. It is as though life at its best is a sort of spiritual journey, a pilgrimage, where doors open that allow us to enter new levels of appreciation and fascination with the unfolding present.
 
Leo Hartshorn in his blog A Different Drummer recalls the words of Rumi the Sufi mystic and poet:
 
“Respond to every call that excites your spirit.
Ignore those that make you fearful and sad,
that degrade you back toward disease and death.
—–Sufi mystic Jalaluddin Rumi
 
Hartshorn continues:
When life has squeezed from you joy and wistfulness
When putting your nose to the grindstone brings in the money
but not freedom and dancing of the heart
Listen to that still, small voice that calls in the wind
It causes you to spread your wings and fly out over the fields of joy
The voice resonates with your true inner self
It brings wholeness and peace

Ignore the calls that make you drink the dregs of depression
Forget the fears that paralyze and keep you looking down in the dirt
when there is so much blue sky overhead
Avoid like the plague the disease of duty and the straightjacket of conformity
Soar on the wings of chance and ride in the current of risk
Climb to the peaks of promise and hope. Be light like the clouds
Follow those paths that excite you, stir your passions, and makes you dream
Consider each new day a sacred adventure ready to burst forth with new life

My fascination with the Pilgrimage of Life is the promise of unforseen heights and beckoning depths that draw me closer to the heart of the Universe and it’s Creator.