Lacy, Author at A Sacred Journey

Travel Tip: Make a Travel Shadow Box with Mementos from Your Recent Adventure

Have you been on any adventures recently?

Maybe you went on an amazing trip over the summer and want to memorialize it in some way. Or perhaps you have a shoebox stored in the top of your closet filled with items collected from a life-changing journey taken years ago that you don’t want to let go of but just can’t figure out what to do with.

I love collecting found objects throughout my journeys—markers of where I have been and what I’ve experienced no matter how small. Since I now carry a camera around in my pocket everywhere I go thanks to my smartphone, I’ve also come to enjoy taking photos of my destinations and sharing them over social media along the way.

While this might make me seem like quite the responsible traveler by documenting my experiences throughout my trip—whether through pictures or found objects—the trouble comes when I return home. Over the past few years I’ve traveled to four countries on three separate trips, taken hundreds of photos, and undoubtedly added weight to my luggage from the various mementos found along the way.

However, other than putting some prints in frames and adding stones and shells I’ve collected to my rock jar (free souvenirs!), I’ve done nothing with my pictures or mementos.

So far this fall has been filled to the brim for me, or at least it seems that way.

Every corner of my daily life seems to be overflowing with projects and tasks, from my work here at A Sacred Journey to my dining room that I hope to have painted by Thanksgiving. The influx of these projects and tasks are good signs, no doubt—I’m cleaning our Airbnb apartment multiple times a week because we’ve been nearly fully booked since we listed our space in July; I’ve shifted to devoting two of my work days to design work as inquiries and requests continue to flow in; I’m finally able to focus money and efforts on making my part of the house (rather than the basement below us) a home now that our basement renovation is complete.

When I pause and reflect on the reasons my days seem so much more full than they used to be, I’m grateful, no doubt. Yet in the midst of it all, it’s easy for projects that once were exciting to become mundane tasks, forever adding to my to-do list. At the end of the day I often feel uprooted, desperate for someplace to land.

This was especially true recently during a two week stint of traveling. (It always seems like a good idea when it’s months away, doesn’t it?) I had a few days at home in between two trips and had plenty of things I could devote my time to, including events and appointments scheduled each night. I was also aware that if I tried to do too much, I’d end up just as depleted by the end of the week as when it began, while still being unsatisfied with the work that was done (I struggle with being a bit too ambitious for the allotted time).

Knowing this (or better yet, knowing my inner groaning for slowness, space, and rest), I began my few days at home with a yin yoga practice on the theme of “fall,” and it changed everything.

Can you believe it’s been an entire year since we began our journey toward more meaningful mornings?

Each day last October we focused on cultivating a meaningful Morning Ritual, and in January, the series turned into my first online course—31 Days to a Meaningful Morning.

31 Days to a Meaningful Morning is a self-directed online course that is delivered to your inbox each day and comes straight from my heart, because over the years my own Morning Ritual has become my most meaningful spiritual practice, serving as a foundation for my day and setting the tone for the day ahead.

I’ve learned from my own experience that a hurried, chaotic morning can leave you frazzled and depleted. Starting the day with a meaningful Morning Ritual, however, will leave you confident, comforted, and ready for the day that awaits.

The 31 Days to a Meaningful Morning online course combines soul-work and careful planning to help you cultivate a Morning Ritual catered specifically to your desires and needs that is sure to leave you feeling closer to your True Self and the Divine.

In celebration of a year of journeying together toward more meaningful mornings, I’m offering a free 7-day sample course throughout the month of October to give you taste of how cultivating a Morning Ritual can impact your daily life and spiritual journey. As a bonus, at the end of the sample course you’ll get an exclusive discount for the full 31 Days to a Meaningful Morning online course so you can continue your journey to a more meaningful morning.

Guides are a valuable resource when setting off on a journey.

The guides we often think to pack are typically travel guides offering sample itineraries, hotel recommendations, and quick reference translations when you need to ask for directions or order a cup of tea. However, while these guides can be undeniably useful when navigating a new place, they will only guide you on your outer pilgrimage. If you want your journey to be meaningful, you’ll need a guide for your inner pilgrimage, too.

For centuries, pilgrims have carried such a guide. Known as a Vade Mecum, or “go with me,” these guides are guides for the soul. In them you’ll find practical information, yes (Rick Steves only started writing guidebooks in the past few decades, after all), but more importantly, you’ll find words of inspiration—prayers, quotes, and Scriptures to accompany the pilgrim along the path.

“Don’t you love New York in the fall?”

Tom Hanks’ character Joe Fox says this to Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail, a movie I watch year after year without fail as the air turns crisp and the leaves begin to change color.

“It makes me wanna buy school supplies,” He continues. “I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address….”

I feel you, Joe Fox. And even though we can’t all enjoy autumn in New York, nor are we all in school, there seems to be a general consensus that fall is the perfect time to learn something new. It’s just in the air, isn’t it?

Unfortunately as adults it’s easy to undervalue or even forget our desire to learn something new when there are daily tasks to tend to. And yet, if we pursue it with authenticity and intention, the process of learning something new can be akin to a spiritual practice by encouraging curiosity, cultivating creativity, and making room for delight.

Even when our school days are behind us, the back-to-school rhythm each year can serve as a reminder to continue to pursue life-long learning and personal growth in our everyday journeys, inviting us to ponder how we’d like to expand and to take action.

Ready to learn something new? Here are 11 ideas to enrich your journey—body, mind, and soul:

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Which pilgrim path are you on?

Click on a path below to find your direction and discover practices to guide you along the way.
the pilgrim at home

the pilgrim abroad

Travel Tip: Make a Travel Shadow Box with Mementos from Your Recent Adventure

Have you been on any adventures recently?

How Yin Yoga is Becoming My Best Teacher This Fall

So far this fall has been filled to the brim for me, or at least it seems that way.

Ready to Create Your Perfect Morning Ritual? My Gift to You…

Can you believe it’s been an entire year since we began our journey toward more meaningful mornings?

Travel Tip: Create Your Own Guide for Your Next Journey

Guides are a valuable resource when setting off on a journey.

Back to School: 11 Ideas for Learning Something New (and why you should)

“Don’t you love New York in the fall?”

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