The Courage To Embark On An Inner Journey

We always hear that the best things are not measured in money. It is certainly true that traveling brings us a great experience and is an excellent way to open up to the world and get to know other cultures, but it often happens that we pack up to escape. We buy the ticket, we stop at the hotel for a week, in a tourist village … We pay to escape, rest and get away from what we are every day and from our obligations.

This is what is called the “need to escape” and implies fleeing momentarily from who we are and our social problems. Buying a ticket to reach another part of the world is not the only way we use to escape: we often do it also through television or social networks; we disconnect to rest. This is by no means a bad thing, but sometimes it would be okay to practice another type of journey: the inner journey. We invite you to sail with us …

The inner journey

What is an inner journey? Strange name, interesting adventure. There is no need to move to a physical place, you do not need either suitcases or smoke vendors who promise you dream landscapes at a bargain price. This journey is an inward trajectory, towards introspection.

We warn you that this is a risky journey, during which you could run into fears and where you could get lost with your own maps; it is both psychological and spiritual terrain in which you will know yourself. How long have you not thought about yourself? Daily obligations, work, the people around us, those for whom we live, suffer and love. Our social and personal environment is important, indeed essential, but so is our emotional micro-universe.

How do you feel right now? What stage of life are you at? Have you fulfilled your aspirations, have you touched the shape of your dreams with your hands? What do you need to be happy? The inner journey is a journey studded with questions to which an answer must be found. Achieving self-knowledge is not always easy, it requires tranquility and the willingness to examine oneself.

The inner map

Psychiatrist Eric Berne used to ask his patients, “Where is your mind while your body is here?” A direct and provocative question at the same time. Ask yourself every now and then, you may realize that very often you run away with your mind, wanting different things, aspiring to other scenarios. If your reality does not coincide with what your mind is dreaming of, you may need to rethink some issues in your life. And here is the risk of the inner journey: it makes us open doors that hurt, it forces us to follow a path that is not always linear, which, on the contrary, in its design, foresees retreats and unpredictable obstacles to be able to know ourselves.

You may be wondering, “ How can we access this inner journey? “There are various ways, the most important being to have the will and time to invest in yourself. Listen to yourselves:

• Observe your behavior and ask yourself why you do certain things and why you don’t do others that may interest you.
• Practice introspection and personal reflection.
• Analyze your fantasies and your daily desires, try to understand what your needs are.
• Remember the  happy moments as well as the painful ones. Ask yourself how you feel right now.
• Rest, think and meditate. Carve out at least an hour a day of silence for yourself, sink into your own ocean where it is always worth dropping anchor.