A Safari of Self and Spirit
‘In the summer of 1893, an English woman named Mary Kingsley traveled to the wildest and most dangerous part of the French Congo in search of herself. Both of her parents had recently died, and suddenly, at the age of 31, Miss Kingsley found herself “not only desolate with grief but bereft of purpose.” Her adventures in West Africa changed all that. Several years later her writings and naturalist discoveries, including the documenting of unknown species of fish and animals, were applauded by the Victorian scientific community.
Mary Kingsley was a hunter of a dream: the knowledge of who she really was and her place in this world. So, are you. Yet even without encountering the daily dangers she faced- wild animals, menacing spears, and deadly diseases- you have embarked on an adventure exciting as that of any explorer. Uncovering the source of the Nile or charting the course of the amazon are outward parallels to the inner journey you are on today- a safari of the self and the spirit.
In Africa, to go on safari– Swahili word for journey- is to leave the comfort and safety of civilization to venture into the wilderness. Each time you listen to the woman within- your authentic self- you do the same. Remind yourself of this often. “You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition,” Alan Alda advices the inner explorer in you. “What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.’ -Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance A Daybook of Comfort and Joy