Honest Trepidation
© Cheryl D. Tracy
Depending on how much effort you put into your journeys, this graduation can come after just six months of regular weekly or bi-weekly journeying. By this time you've discovered how journeys work for you. You're comfortable with getting in and out. You've gathered one or more Guides, or teachers, and have developed a relationship based on trust and honesty. It is no longer a question of "will I be able to get inside today?" It becomes: "Wonder what'll happen today when I go in." In other words, you're relaxed and confident enough about the process itself so that you can focus on lessons and experiences.
By this stage of the Journeying process you're able to be yourself at all times, at least on the Inner Landscape. You have no worries about getting into situations over your head because you've figures out that you're safe no matter what's going on. You're no longer going in with a measure of anxiety about having forgotten anything. Instead, you're going in expecting answers to come and are open to whatever form they happen to take. It is at this stage that the deepest work begins.
It's hard to lie to yourself while journeying. When first learning to step inside, you might color the landscape with your beliefs, fears, and expectations. As you gain experience, however, and you realize that you are safe here from any prying eyes, the land will transform into a true representation of yourself. You learn that, in order to get anywhere on the Inner Planes, you must be yourself, whatever that might mean. And when you try to discolor that self-image with egotistical or self-delusional material, the landscape will respond by playing games with you until you own up. There is no safer place to express and be your truest self than the Inner Landscape. And the only way that you get accurate, helpful, and healing information is if you are willing to simply be yourself.
