In most tales of the hero’s jour­ney, there is some­one that he or she encoun­ters who offers some­thing, a key or spell or tal­is­man, which will help them in their quest. That some­one could be a witch in the swamp, a smil­ing cat in a tree, or a dwarf at the cross­roads.

Sometimes “The words of the prophets are writ­ten on the sub­way walls and ten­e­ment halls.”*  Perhaps the quip of a friend, a song lyric, or a line from a book or movie pro­duces that serendip­i­tous moment when we make an impor­tant choice in our trans­for­ma­tion.

I have reached that age, at the end of sev­er­al such jour­neys, where my flask is full of the mag­ic elixir and my bas­ket is full of gifts. These are not for me to keep, but have been brought back to pass on to heal the king­dom, to assist the next seek­er, or per­haps mere­ly to point out the haz­ards along the trail.

Few of these obser­va­tions and opin­ions are orig­i­nal, that is, pulled pris­tine from my ass.  Some are the thoughts of far wis­er and more suc­cess­ful per­sons (in the world­ly sense) than I will ever be. Some are warn­ings from my mis­takes. And some are lessons nobly learned, as I have had my share of drag­ons con­quered and damsels won.

I am still a learn­er as well as a men­tor, and I wel­come oth­ers to drop by and add their gifts to the bas­ket. There is a con­tact form in the side­bar of every page where you can sub­mit a ques­tion, a link, or a pro­pos­al for adding some con­tent here. You may also com­ment on indi­vid­ual posts.

This might not be a foun­tain of wis­dom for every­one. In the sto­ries the dwarf is most­ly ignored, when not open­ly derid­ed or abused. But some of us are called, like Holden Caulfield, to be catch­ers in the rye (irony includ­ed).

So, if you are a prince or princess wan­der­ing in the for­est, then my loss of inno­cence may be your gain. The gifts in my bas­ket, the amulets I hold, or the proverbs I offer may be part of the mag­ic that you will need dur­ing your moments of deci­sion.

Have you heard a call? Are you aware that your life is more than just exist­ing? It is unique­ly human to expe­ri­ence ecsta­sy and anx­i­ety, doubt and con­fi­dence, regret and antic­i­pa­tion. Only humans pon­der the mean­ing of life and become absorbed by our beliefs.

It is our boon and our bane.

You may be trou­bled, in pain, or mere­ly won­der­ing about your next step. It is no acci­dent that you are here.

Click here and enter the por­tal, or

Click here to learn more about the metaphor under­ly­ing this site.

* from The Sound of Silence by Paul Simon