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Everything you do is sacred. Every experience can be a ceremony. My partner Mike and I just got back from an almost 4 week long road trip. It was an amazing, transformative experience. There were serious ups and downs- both times of significant difficulty and of incredible joy. Each piece of the trip added an important layer that needed to be added all together to see the full purpose of our experience. Reflecting on our long drive home over a sleepless night, it became very clear to me the exact function of each moment- how every part of our trip was a perfect sequence of ceremony that we needed to do in order to actualize the next step in our life journeys.

Our first stop was Death Valley. This place lives up to its name. It radiates nothingness- just empty valleys and mountains for miles. The air was clear and cold at night, and the silence was immense. We saw no life here, not even a bug. The beauty was incredible, but very stark. There was a foreboding feeling, almost of dread here, that Mike felt especially intensely. There really was the sense that if something went wrong you could die very easily, and there was a power present in that knowledge. We talked a lot about the Death card in the tarot while we were there. Sometimes this experience of vast emptiness is needed as a prerequisite for new life to spring up. This place really embodied the nothing that exists before the something- and it set the stage for the rest of the trip. Wiping the slate clean. Letting go of it all and starting fresh.

Death Valley- big and empty

Our second stop was Joshua Tree. I was immediately struck by the strange beauty of this place. It looked to me as if someone had created a perfect aesthetic garden in the middle of the desert. Round rocks, beautiful cactuses, strange spiny plants, all placed in what seemed to be intentional artistic positions with each other. It was a testament to the beauty that is available for us to create even when so few resources like water and shade are available. Creation really can arise out of nothing, and beauty can persevere even in unlikely places. I got a strong sense of both strength and grace in this place. I didn’t know it then, but it was showing us the first step into something beautiful Mike and I would be creating together.

Venusian vibes

Our third stop was in Phoenix. This is where we hit the trials of our trip. Our van broke down, the mechanics couldn’t figure out what was wrong, we spent a lot more money than we had budgeted for, and for a moment it felt like every thing was falling apart. We were stuck in Phoenix, and I was very upset that all my carefully laid travel plans were getting off track. We spent several days there figuring out what to do and had extra time to walk around neighborhoods, talk, and explore magick shops that Mike wanted to check out. We didn’t love the energy of the Phoenix, but it certainly had a bustling, big city vibe and I decided to trust that there was a reason this difficulty had happened and we had to be in that industrious energy for longer. Sure enough, all the walking and talking got our brains moving, and we began conjuring up ideas for our future careers and business opportunities together. We became exhilarated and inspired- the more we walked, and explored, and talked, the more our ideas took shape. We also finally decided how to handle the situation with the van. We left it in Phoenix to work on repairs, rented a car, and continued on with the trip.

The magic really starting happening here!

Our fourth stop was Tucson and Bisbee. These are very alternative, artsy feeling towns, that felt more reminiscent of our hometown Eugene. The creativity kept flowing in these places, and we spent a lot of time posted up with our laptops, writing and brainstorming as our vision came more and more into focus. Being among the energy of the high desert mountains, quirky artists and colorful coffee shops was the perfect setting to nail down our plains even more concretely.

Bisbee was a beautiful, artistic feeling place

Our fifth stop was Sedona. This place was magical! While we weren’t big fans of the town itself, the surrounding natural habitat was buzzing with spiritual energy. We took a lot of hikes and visited all four vortexes, where the magnetic lines of the earth cross each other and create powerful potency for manifestation. We meditated, chanted, drew tarot cards, and made sigils for the success of our new business ideas, channeling as much of the energy of the place as we could to bless our dream.

Even without the vortexes this view was enough to inspire!

Our sixth stop was Las Vegas. This city is the embodiment of excess! What a contrast to our first stop in Death Valley- both are in the middle of the desert, but the (perhaps misguided) will of humanity has created vibrant life in the middle of an empty landscape. We walked along the strip, with the bright flashing lights in our faces visualizing success for ourselves even in the face of any hardship or difficulty that might come our way. Being in this city at the end of our trip affirmed for us that anything we dream up is possible.

What a bizarre and energizing place Las Vegas is!

Lastly, as we began the long drive home, we stopped at a quiet hot spring in the middle of the Sierra Nevada mountains. We watched a beautiful sunset over snowy peaks as we soaked in the warm mineral water. It felt like the perfect end to a wild, dynamic, creative, life changing trip. A way to sit quietly and reflect on our whole journey, from beginning to end. Each piece was laid out for us intentionally like a treasure hunt, each step powerful and meaningful, even if we did not realize it all the time. The entire trip was set up like a ceremony, a ritual to manifest the creativity and passion of our goals. Now, back home, I am so grateful for every moment, and everything it allowed us to realize together.

The perfect end to a profound trip

We have big plans coming, and we can’t wait to share more with you all soon.

About the Author
Jen Donovan completely rebuilt her life and career as a result of her experience with severe chronic illness. After finding no answers from conventional medical approaches, she took matters into her own hands and with the help of key mentors, found a path to healing.
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