(this was written a few weeks ago)

everything that has ever befallen me, or that i have done, or that i have avoided doing (facing), has been in preparation for what is to come (for me) this weekend

maybe that sounds like a lot, but it’s true for you, too. and you, and you, and you, ad nauseam

during the last several years, i’ve been using The Hero’s Journey as a framework for the story that i pretend to be writing about my recovery from “adverse childhood experiences”

during all that time, it never occurred to me that “I” am the hero in the story

i am in Nova Scotia for the next few days. my father had a strong attraction to this area, but aside from mentioning it in passing he didn’t explain why. i believe that some of his (my) (our) ancestors lived here

on Friday, i am meeting six other men, male survivors, as we call ourselves, to undergo a group healing ritual, based on The Hero’s Journey. we will be doing this in a remote area, far from civilization, and close to the sea, which is as important to me as any imaginable deity. the only entities i worship in this realm are the earth and the sun (lesser deities are acknowledged and appreciated, even if not devoutly)

this experience was conceived and initiated by a friend named Malachi (until now, i’ve been misspelling it, sorry M). the name means “messenger