Saturday, November 19, 2011 1:01
The Journey Starts Now
If I’ve learned anything during the past three years, it’s that you can’t get there from here, unless you take the first step.
I posted my first ‘blought‘ to the Triptych Journey web-site in March of 2009. Over the course of six months, I diligently posted a series of stories, updates, and reflections, receiving a handful of supportive comments in return, mostly from friends and family. Somehow, however, I had imagined more. I had operated with the erroneous assumption that the blog would be the vehicle for the project; all I needed to do was get the site up and running and Triptych Journey would magically take off. Right.
Needless to say, that didn’t work out so well. For the past two years, the site has been dormant. The project, still only real in the domain of my mind, was equally comatose. Inaction, I learned, has its own powerful momentum.
At some point this past year, I awoke from the long night’s slumber with a simple realization- the only way to get there from here was to take the first step. For too long, I was immobilized by the chasm between the vision of Triptych Journey and the fact of what it was: an idea. I didn’t know how to leap across that chasm, to go from idea to reality. There-in lay my fundamental mistake; it’s not a leap. It’s a slow methodical walk.
I took my first step this past winter, reaching out to a colleague (of my current incarnation) and asking for help. I realized that I needed to share my idea to create accountability. I needed a to-do list. I needed someone to keep me on task. I needed a catalyst. And I needed to start walking. She provided all of the above.
I have taken several steps since that time. Triptych Journey was incorporated with the State of Vermont in May of this year. I took a sparse project outline and broadened it into a full narrative, which I shared with other colleagues and acquaintances, listening to their feedback and making changes and additions. I’ve reached out to prospective artist participants and have begun to build an itinerary. And, last but certainly not least, I’ve formed a board.
On a cold and overcast October day, the Triptych Journey board had it’s first meeting in Waterbury, Vermont. Over the course of five productive hours, we established a list of goals and objectives, including a ‘needs list’ of additional members for our current five-person board. We met again via phone in November and will hold our next in-person meeting in January. Steps, one at a time.
Over the course of the next 6-12 months, the board will be building the organizational infrastructure of Triptych Journey as well as the components of the first travel project: Padmasambhava. I will be posting regular updates on our progress, logging our steps as we move towards implementation. Once we begin implementation, the Triptych Journey site will be the portal for following our travel through the landscape and story of Guru Rimpoche. The site will also offer opportunities for audience questions, thoughts, and reflections.
In hindsight, I don’t think the past three years have been for naught. Dreams are born in slumber. They may provide only fleeting glimpses and images but they are stirring, mixing, undergoing alchemical transformation. Patiently waiting for the light of day and the impetus to move. The journey starts now.
