spirituality | jacqueline vanacek

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.”

For years I have had a vision of stepping from one stone to another, across a peaceful body of water. On the far side sits a proud snowy mountain. Glistening in the sun. Inviting me to summit.

Deep inside I know where I’m headed.

If only I knew how to “get there.”

I have spent nearly a lifetime in high tech and it no longer fits. Or does it, but in a newly creative way?

Surely my purpose must be more …

And I began to Walk into my vision … stepping from one stone to another, to contemplate where to take my “one wild and precious life.”

Summers ago in France, I walked a small part of The Camino, the Pilgrim’s Path, through medieval villages and beautiful countryside.

It was an early stepping stone – to open my heart and ready me for more.

Then I went to Spain to Walk the main Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James.

My destination was the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, to see the remains of the apostle like so many before.

Pilgrims have been walking the Camino for centuries, to contemplate their lives, atone, start over.

It’s a deeply spiritual journey shared over a thousand years by saints and popes, religious leaders, seekers like you and me.

And St. James was an early Evangelist for Christianity… a missionary who inspired others through storytelling and kindness.

As a Cloud Computing Evangelist, I love the parallels of storytelling and kindness to inspire and invoke action. And I sensed that by Walking the Way, St. James could help me learn more about who I am and why I’m really here.

I walked from Sarria to Santiago, sometimes alone, sometimes with our group … through villages and farmland.

It was life-affirming and peaceful, a cornucopia of Nature.

In so many moments I stood silent, simply awed by the serenity of Life.

And I discovered a lovely metaphor in the scallop shell symbolizing us Pilgrims – how elegantly its grooves join to form a single point of origin.

That was the whole purpose of my Walk, to elegantly join my spiritual life and my high tech career in a way that empowers me and serves others.

And what I learned on the Walk made my vision real.

It truly is one step at a time, one foot in front of the other and enjoying the view along the Way.

“Don’t try to rush things: for the cup to run over, it must first be filled.”

So for now, that’s what I will do, just put one foot in front of the other. Live in the moment, enjoy the mysterious and Walk into my future. In a Way that is uniquely mine.

I learned that if you do what you love, even in small ways, a secret magic takes over.

Opportunities present, dreams become real and all of a sudden, you’re living your “one wild and precious life.”

As Spanish poet Antonio Machado discovered on his journey,

“Wayfarer, there is no path.
The path is made by walking.”

********************************************************************

Video of my Walk.

The turtle is unique because it lives on both land and in the water. It lives a long life and is known for persistence. While “slow and steady” on land, the turtle is fast and agile in the water. It catches the flow of the water to glide anywhere with little effort.

And the turtle carries its home on its back, for protection and retreat when the world gets too harsh.

In indigenous cultures, the turtle symbolizes patience, determination and a “slow and steady” path through life – to explore new terrain and ideas – gather new wisdom – become more adaptable in a deliberate way.

The turtle remains steadfast amidst obstacles and challenges. It moves at Nature’s pace, when living things thrive best and are in harmony with their surroundings.

When we are in harmony with our surroundings, we too have our best longevity, creativity and pleasure in life.

So I ponder the wisdom of the turtle and how it applies to our tech lives — always busy, online, on the road.

When do we find time to create? To innovate? To thrive, amidst our constant deluge of social media messaging, new products, hungry competitors, life on the edge?

The turtle is a gentle reminder that when our pace surpasses Nature’s pace, it’s time to slow down – take a break – find our inner wisdom from a safe place so we can “catch the flow” and glide to our destination, wherever that might be.

In ancient China, the turtle was revered deeply for its wisdom. As a land and water creature, the turtle connected the underworld and the land. And as one of the four symbols of Chinese constellations, the turtle signified longevity and connection to the heavens as well.

So the turtle, like the dragon, was a unique bridge for humanity to connect with the underworld, the land and the heavens.

And it was an important source of wisdom during the Zhou Dynasty.

The Zhou Dynasty (1046 – 256 BCE) was a time of great intellectual and artistic awakening in China, when the most important Chinese philosophies like Daoism, Confucianism and Legalism were born. These schools of thought flourished and remain prominent in Chinese culture today. Two are embedded in Traditional Chinese Medicine, as I had noted in Bridging the Ancient Wisdom of Qigong.

Turtle shells were used during the Zhou Dynasty as divination tools — to help royalty and leaders make the right decisions about topics like agriculture, warfare, civic matters and health.

Bu shu卜書or turtle shell divination was pervasive from Central Asia to western China. The practice involved painting a crack on a turtle shell and inserting an intense heat source until the shell cracked. If the inked crack lined up with the crack system produced from the scorching, it was said that the turtle “ate the ink” and a prophesy could be interpreted.

But there was no pattern to how the cracks were interpreted. Each Diviner saw something different. It was believed the Diviners or prognosticators had an oral contract with the turtle about what the cracks might mean for a given topic. Each prophesy was open to interpretation and used as a prayer or intention. Insights were saved by inscribing or brush-writing them on the oracle bones with ink or cinnabar. Then turtle shell bones were buried in pits.

The turtle has a rich significance in ancient wisdom, with many parallels for our lives today.

As one who loves to travel, I want to “carry my home on my back” and feel at home regardless of where I am.

Years ago I started to collect decorative turtles in my travels around the world. But I didn’t know why.

Now I know!

My turtles are a colorful reminder to slow down, “be at home,” cultivate peace of mind anywhere … so that I … we .. can live in harmony with our environment and thrive.