Читать книгу Out of the Darkness: An Unexpected Path to Freedom - Karrie Boone's Wallen - Страница 5

In August 2007, I plunged into what I refer to as the Great Dark Night of the Soul. Though I had experienced at least one other enormously transformational period that I would also refer to as a Dark Night, the experience beginning in late 2007 was beyond compare in emotional pain, torture, hopelessness, despair and the sense of forsakenness by God. St. John of the Cross metaphorically describes this Night in emotionally graphic and “gory” detail in his poem & treatise, The Dark Night. Though my book is about the final emergence from this Great Night, I am including four “descriptions” I believe adequately summarize the “horrendous” nature of this experience. The Great Dark Night of the Soul is something a person survives and then falls on her knees in a deep, deep, deep sense of gratitude – not only for surviving but for the gift of purification which leads to freedom, independence and Truth.

In April 2011, I was inspired to write my first blog. (I loved to write but hardly ever took the time to do it because it didn’t seem lucrative - so why waste my time?) The blog was entitled “Rally of One” and was a week long chronicle of my daily journey to the state capitol of California. The “project” was life changing for me and I was reconnected to something that truly comes from my Soul. The experience left me yearning for more and though I didn’t know it at the time, it was a catalyst for my final emergence from the Great Dark Night.

In June 2011, I took 2 weeks off from my job – which was slowly “killing” me on a multitude of levels – and decided to give myself a little “mouth-to-mouth” with another “Rally of One” experience. Initially, when I asked myself what I desired to “rally” around, I heard the word labyrinth. Immediately, I dismissed the idea. I wanted something with a cause, a passion, something that would make a difference. Labyrinths? Good God! How boring is that? Two days later, the idea was cemented. I decided to walk a different labyrinth every day for a week and blog about my experiences. I also included a contemplative focus on “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” which prompted the title for the overall experience – Life, Liberty & the Labyrinth.

The 9 days this journey covered became THE most transformational experience of my life. Even now, my body trembles and tears come to my eyes due to the immense, power and gratitude this journey generated and continues to generate. I am still benefiting from its catalytic and cathartic nature as I continue to move evermore deeply into living from the unalienable truths of Life…..Liberty….and the pursuit of Happiness.

The book itself is divided into 6 segments. The Great Dark Night of the Soul shares my experience via 4 brief but potently descriptive writings; Declaration of Divine Co-Creation & Intent is the agreement I entered just prior to my sacred journey through the labyrinths; Life, Liberty & the Labyrinth journals the catalytic 9 day odyssey that initiated the path to freedom and Rude Magnificence; Declaring Independence chronicles the incredible insights and external transformation that transpired in the days and weeks immediately following the initial journey; Liberty shares my experiences as I move deeper into a state of true self-determination and freedom; and Rude Magnificence accounts my continuing journey into a desired state of illuminated and enlightened living.

For anyone who finds his or herself in the midst of the smothering darkness that is the Great Dark Night, this book has been written to inspire and rekindle hope for emergence. For those desiring the experience of living life in true freedom, the journey outlined in the following pages was my path to that freedom - and far more. In the last few months, my partner and I have facilitated two separate workshops which focused on this path within the labyrinth. In both cases, this sacred path proved to be as deeply life changing for the participants as it was for me.

It should be noted that this book is not meant to be a “literary giant.” It is the chronicle and sharing of an incredible transformational journey – a journey that must be felt and experienced in order to be understood. So tap your inner courage, open your mind and heart….and let the journey begin!

Much love,

Karrie