Join My Journey

I sit with a book and cup of tea in front of me. 

I realize. 

One year ago, 

I knew neither the woman who wrote the book, nor wove the 

coaster.

My journey began on May 18, 2012.
My goal is to complete it by July, 2014.

As with any journey, but particularly this one, it began with a single step.  A step into a labyrinth.
Anne Hornstein's labyrinth on Miramar Beach, Florida.  It was the first state of 50 that I will visit.  All outdoor labyrinths, grounded in the earth.  All created by women.

Since Florida, I have visited a labyrinth in 20 states.  Nineteen built in yards. One on a beach.  Each with a story.  I have walked each labyrinth except the one in New Jersey, made unwalkable by Hurricane Irene. (Bianca Franchi has since rebuilt it.)  I have listened to each woman's story. 

The idea came from, well, who knows where.  That mysterious Voice that sneaks up on you from "out of the blue," or as a needling nudge that elbows you at 2:00 am and won't go back to sleep.  

"You love to write.  You love labyrinths.  Write about labyrinths, one in every state."  

An ambitious Voice to be sure!

For those of you unfamiliar with the labyrinth, it is an ancient design consisting of one path that leads from an entrance on the outer edge, in a circuitous way, to the center and back out.  

Not a maze

No confusion

One way in

One way out

"It is a walking meditation.  A tool to quiet the mind, reduce stress, open the heart." (Lauren Artress)

Here are two different types of labyrinths, from the amazing ones I've visited so far. . . 

                 

Lani Rossetta's labyrinth 

 Center Point, Oregon (close to Medford)

Susan Gardener and Kathleen Rosemary's labyrinth 

Baltimore, Maryland 

My journey, and those of the women whose stories I'm carrying with me, will become a book.  

Labyrinth Journeys: Fifty States, Fifty-One Stories

The working title is Labyrinth Journeys: Fifty States, Fifty-One Stories.   My friend, Margie Beedle, gave me her original watercolor of the Merciful Love Labyrinth in Juneau, Alaska, the first labyrinth I ever walked.  It is my proposed cover.  I can't imagine another more meaningful and artfully created.  

As I continue this journey, I will begin posting updates on this blog, with plans to expand to a website.

My excitement and commitment to this path grow with each woman's story, with each friend who joins me for a portion of the trip, with each new labyrinth I walk, finding my own center in the process.   

I invite you to continue reading, to join me as I travel forward.  And as you do, let me know. . .

What is your path?

Note:

From the picture at the top of this posting. . .

The handwoven coaster was made by Hillary Cooper-Kinny, whose labyrinth I visited in Hudson Falls, New York.

The book, The Creative Photographer, was written by Catherine Anderson, whose labyrinth I visited in Charlotte, North Carolina.