Caravan Conversations James Tousignant

A Year of Living Miraculously is a year-long offering of conversations with Caravan community members who have been exploring The Caravan of Remembering by Daniel Goodenough.

Each month we invite individuals to share their experiences and what it means to co-create the journey of their life’s mission, and the ways they have integrated their reflections from the book into their own lives.

Todays guests are Sanaa Abouayoub and Morgan Fontaine.

A Year of Living Miraculously is a year-long offering of conversations with Caravan community members who have been exploring The Caravan of Remembering by Daniel Goodenough.

Each month we invite individuals to share their experiences and what it means to co-create the journey of their life’s mission, and the ways they have integrated their reflections from the book into their own lives.

Todays guest is Daya Harris. As a psycho-spiritual and transition coach Daya supports people in a kind, gentle, and positive with living an authentic, heart-filled, peace-based life while healing old, past, negative stories which keep them from moving forward.

In 2023, our monthly podcast is called “A Year of Living Miraculously” as a follow up to last years podcast, “A Year of Living Dangerously.”

We could say that what was dangerous to the ego last year becomes this year’s miracle. Our format has shifted some, as we are now beginning to meet with members of the Caravan community who have been exploring the questions in the book for some time.

We (James and Carissa) are interested in the lived experiences of each person we speak with, and the ways they have integrated their reflections from The Caravan of Remembering into their own lives.

Like our pattern from last year’s podcast, we will choose a quote from the book and explore it together. Each of us will have been with the quote for at least a week, and will bring what we noticed and explored to the podcast.

Perhaps it is because we tend to notice miracles as they show up in our lived experience that we are bringing in living stories from our community. As the quote below explores, there is also the miracle of consciously co-creating with the being of our life’s mission. We can begin to expect the unexpected in this co-creative exploration, in a way that is also a very safe experience.

"Our work in Caravan assists our horizontal world selves in the work of embodying life mission. Together with the One that sent us we create a container for the work in the horizontal world. There is another kind of miracle that happens with this. Something is created in this that is a kind of life. We co-create the being of our life mission. Like yourself, your life mission is a being that lives in both worlds and moves with you. Your relationship with this being is as ancient as your relationship with Caravan and the One that sent you. Your work here requires your conscious participation in this relationship, at least here in Caravan. The being of your life mission travels with you for the entire journey. It can be your closest friend and greatest protector in times of danger. In fact, the safest place in the horizontal world is traveling with your life mission." The Caravan of Remembering, page 115

We welcome you to join us in this year’s exploring of what it means to co-create the journey of your life’s mission.

Welcome to week fifty-two, our final week!

This week, we complete A Year of Living Dangerously with a reflection on choosing anything but our life mission, something that is within us from the beginning and doesn't originate in the horizontal world.

Excerpt:

Here in Caravan, I ask, is there a life that makes sense to live that does not include the reason we were sent? Can you conceive of choosing anything but your life mission?”

The man replied, “Depth psychologist James Hillman addressed this question in his book The Soul’s Code. He referred to what he called the acorn principle. I think he is saying the code of our life mission is within us, and like the mighty oak tree is waiting to unfold over time in the course of our life. He wrote that it is inherent in us from birth, like the acorn, and isn’t created by our life in the horizontal world.

The Caravan of Remembering,Chapter 5, Life Mission Across Culture and Over Time, p.94

Welcome to week fifty-one. This week David reflects in his expedition journal about the way that life mission brings out the goodness of life and the ability to make a real difference.

Excerpt

When I think about life mission and the basic goodness of people, I wonder how anyone could be doing their life mission and not be in a space of gratitude and kindness. Life mission brings out the goodness of life. Life mission keeps our eyes full of wonder and the beauty of life. If I think of all the times I looked around in the middle of my life in the horizontal world, in the midst of doing work I loved, I always feel enormously blessed. Doing the work we lovealways blesses us with the gifts we give. I can see the very thing we give is the gift that life mission returns to us.

It may be that the gift of a life mission is that it’s the closest we can get in this life to seeing the face of God. I see the face of the One every time I make a decision to listen to the call. When I see someone answer the call, I look up and I smile and I say thank you for the privilege of witnessing it. I feel that humanity has a chance, after all. I see a great deal of that. Maybe that is one of the greatest gifts of doing one’s life mission. I see such longing in people. I see such heart in people and the pain of wanting to do more. I hear such longing to make a difference in life.

It is good to see that in people. It is so easy to come to think people don’t care. It feels so good to experience someone willing to make great sacrifices to make the world a better place.

The Caravan of Remembering, Chapter 4, Committing to the Process of Life Mission, p.76.

Welcome to week 50. This week Jun shares about the co-creative aspect of life mission.

Jun moved wood in the fire with his cane as he began again, his voice just loud enough to be heard. “Our work in Caravan assists our horizontal world selves in the work of embodying our life missions. Together with the One that sent us, we create a container for the work in the horizontal world. There is another kind of miracle that happens with this. Something is created that is a kind of life. We co-create the being of our life mission. Like our self, our life mission is a being that lives in both worlds and moves with us. Our relationship with this being is as ancient as our relationship with Caravan and the One that sent us.” He paused and looked at each of us. “Your work, at least here in Caravan, requires your conscious participation in this relationship. Your conscious relationship here will affect your horizontal-world life, even if you don’t consciously remember it there.”

The Caravan of Remembering, Chapter 11, Moving into the world, p.217-218.