I wanted an adventure and decided to go on a modern-day vision quest in 2000. Life had been really hard and I was tired of all the struggle and seriousness - I dreamed of a magic solo vacation that would bring back my joy. I flipped through an airline magazine while I was trying to decide about where to go. As fun experiment I asked the universe to “show me where I needed to go” for my spiritual vision quest. Three times I tousled the pages with my eyes shut asking to land on the place where I should go. All three times the page opened to “Arizona’s Breathtaking Landscape” so I decided to go to Arizona.
I had recently read the book “The Celestine Prophecy” twice and found my mind open to adventure. As an empath and sensitive, the book helped me tap in to my inner wisdom with excitement about the idea I knew all along - there is more out there than what we understand. The book talked of earth Vortex energy systems that intrigued me. I looked more into it and learned that there are confirmed energy vortexes in Sedona Arizona! Normally I like to plan my vacations, but this one I was leaving up to synchronicity. I decided to let Spirit lead the way and show me what to do and where to go while I was there.
I stayed in Phoenix with an awesome Priceline hotel deal and got up early one morning to drive to Sedona. I had never driven in the desert before and it was breathtaking. Armed with a bunch of my favorite music CD's to play (this was before mp3 and all) I couldn't wait to get there. I was unprepared for the mountainous parts of the drive and I could feel my ears popping on the ascent. The steep valleys and drop offs with just a small guard rail were terrifying. I am afraid of heights and found myself gripping the steering wheel so tight my fingers went numb. I stopped at the visitor center as soon as I got into Sedona and picked up a vortex map.
Vortex, Sweat, and Tears
Some of the vortex locations required a long hike and I was not up for that. I was alone and did not have the gear for it. I asked the hippie-looking store clerk “which vortex has the least amount of hiking?” He told me to go to the Airport Vortex out on the edge of town and showed me on the map. He said "you know you are there when you see the twisty Juniper trees." I looked puzzled because I wasn’t sure what a juniper tree looked like. He showed me a photo of a twisty juniper and a regular juniper so I would know the difference.
I hopped in the car and made my way there, and as I turned on to Airport road the hairs on my arms stood straight up. It felt tingling like a tuning fork and a faint buzzing feeling in my ears. Holy shit, this is definitely the right place! I pulled into a small uphill roadside parking lot. I saw people walking up a steep incline so I followed them. I knew I was getting closer because that weird feeling was intensifying as I walked to the top of the hill.
There was no sign that said "vortex is here" but I walked around a bit until I felt the strongest energy and found a rock to sit on. The nearby juniper tree was twisty, with the grooves that ran down the length of the branches twisting around the circumference of the branch like stripes on a candy cane - just like the guy in the store showed me. I sat there for hours, as long as I could stand it in the 110 degree desert heat. At one point, four German hikers walked up and asked "do you know where the Vortex is?" I was shocked they couldn't feel it. I said "its right here, see this tree?" and I showed them my map. I asked them to take a picture of me - and this photo has been on my desk for decades as a reminder of my "happy place."
Emotions came from deep inside me as tears ran down my face in awe of the scenic landscape. This spot was a high elevation and I could see for miles into the horizon. After awhile I couldn’t feel the buzz of the energy anymore, it was cleansing me and recharging my spirit like my soul was plugged into Universe. I felt a smallness, this amazing view of the world gave me perspective. I cried because I felt free, sitting in the intense sunlight, a small solitary being experiencing the immense beauty of the planet for the first time.
Like an old movie, my life story played in my mind as the vortex energized me. I remembered all the old hurts, years of feeling lost and alone, the struggle of hiding my sensitivity and empathic abilities, the shame of being different, and my endless striving to be "good enough." I released lifetimes of tears as it just kept coming like an extended remix of "ugly" crying, blubbering, and gentle flowing tears. A familiarity with this place emerged as I understood that I had been here many lifetimes ago, and I had lived hundreds of reincarnations. It is hard to describe, but encountering this vortex energy was integrating them all into my subconscious reality. It felt a little trippy like the world was expanding into the universe. (although I was likely dehydrated from sitting in the sun for hours without water, ha ha).
Asking for a Sign
Cleansed by the vortex and sunlight - I talked to God. "Please give me a sign that its all worth something. That I have a purpose here, there is a brighter path ahead for me. I need a sign, please." I closed my eyes and felt the sun burning my puffy eyelids. When I opened my eyes I noticed a tiny lizard run out from the tree. I sat motionless as he ran up to the small wet patch of ground from my tears. He looked at me with tiny eyes that looked like cat's eyes. I was surprised at our lengthy eye contact when I realized - he was my sign! He rested his face and tiny fingers in the damp sand for some time then scurried away. I had this expansive awareness that I was put there in that exact moment to provide water for a tiny lizard. And every other moment of my life was intended for a larger purpose. Sometimes the experiences in my life were about me and other times it was about those whose paths I crossed. Although I couldn't see the purpose in the entire grand scheme the purpose was there.
Thirsty and a little dizzy, I got in the car to leave. When I turned the key the Doors CD was playing the song "Waiting for the Sun" when these lyrics grabbed me by the soul "This is the strangest life I've ever known, can't you feel it now that spring has come that it's time to live in the scattered sun…"
That message from Jim Morrison in that very moment was for me - spring had come for me and now was my time to live in the sun. Something shifted in my energy that day. I understood that I needed to continue on my spiritual journey and learn to love and accept myself. I was part of the Universe's plan and even the weird and unexplainable shit was happening for a purpose. My wait for the sun was over. The wild and crazy ride that was my life so far was actually "on track" and I was forever changed with this new perspective.
Synchronicity for the Win
In this vision quest I wanted to embrace synchronicity and let the Universe guide me for a week. The experiences from that week were life changing for me - my inner knowing understood that every inch of my existence was carefully planned and my Spirit Guides would guide my path if I stayed open to their messages. Synchronicity is actually part of Spirit's "guidance system" to give us clues or nudges to support our growth. Random conversations can spark new ideas, seeing recurring numbers that later lead you to a choice, something that catches your eye and helps you remember, a song randomly on the radio, a smell that reminds you of grandma's cookies - in the end nothing is 100% random.
If you think about it - what is the significance of you coming upon this blog and reading it to the end? What synchronicities have been happening that you need to pay attention to? Maybe your Guides want you to expand your awareness and be open to spiritual messages in your daily life?
I challenge you to do your own 7-day synchronicity experiment. Use this quick and easy guide to help you notice the signs.
