When Losing the Path Is Finding the Way

Lately I’ve been feeling lost… How about you?

It’s not surprising. The world is undergoing some truly unprecedented things, and it’s creating unprecedented changes in many of our lives. Navigating the unprecedented means we have to venture into uncharted territory. And that feels a whole lot like being lost.

In this episode of The Gathering Room, I’m talking about feeling lost during times of personal and global upheaval, letting go of what’s familiar, and stepping into the unknown to awaken to a new consciousness.

If you’re familiar with my work, you’ll know I’ve long believed that we need to experience a radical change of consciousness in order to move forward as a species in love and harmony and care for the planet and each other.
That journey of awakening will require us to go to places we’ve never been before. And when you’re going into the unknown, the path itself must disappear—it must become a non-path or what is known in Zen as “the pathless path.”

No one has ever traveled the path you’re meant to travel. Your way is unique. It lies beyond any maps. So as you move forward not knowing where you are going, there will come a time when you’ll feel like you’ve lost the path completely. (Maybe that’s where you are right now.)

You may find yourself feeling things like: Am I on the right path? Is there even a path? I don’t know where I am or who I am anymore—am I the only one who feels this way?

Here’s the thing: The moment that you feel lost might be the moment that your soul has finally slipped the leash of cultural conditioning. It may feel strange and alienating, but it’s a sign that you’re not off track, you’re unmapped—and you are free.

At these times I follow a practice called “Naming the Shape of the Unknown,” where you:

Allow the unknown to simply be.
Put words on what you don’t know.
Sit quietly with this named not-knowing.

You don’t have to solve a problem, you just have to make a little space where you can be aware of your own not-knowing and how it makes you feel.

For example, if you feel stuck about your career, instead of running around working on your resume, pause and just see where the pathless path has taken you. You may find yourself feeling things like: I don’t know what I want, I don’t know whether the life I built still fits me, I don’t know what’s coming next, and I’m terrified.

All you have to do is sit with these feelings. Sit with the terror, sit with the pain. Trust that the river knows where it’s going, even if you don’t. If you can sit with those “I don’t know” phrases, it may be uncomfortable or painful, but you start to realize that it is also intimacy with the mystery.

Your not-knowing can be the map to the place you’ve never seen, to the person you’re becoming that you’ve never been, to your new home.

Tune in for the full episode to hear more about the practice of sitting with the unknown, how our living spaces mirror our inner lives, and how to use imagination and yearning to channel new possibilities.

I’ll also answer listener questions on how to remain on the fluid path while setting strong boundaries, how to comfort yourself through grief and uncertainty, and why transformation is a lifelong spiral. And I’ll lead you through my Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation to help you reconnect with your inner compasses—the only guidance you ever need.

Remember that The Gathering Room is not a room with walls. It is a clearing where lost ones find each other and remember they were never alone. So if you’re lost, tune in and be lost with us. We’ll find each other in a place none of us has ever known before.

CONNECT WITH US

• Follow Martha on Instagram
• The Gathering Room Show Notes
• Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.