S.O.N.G. is a map of the benefits/blessings/connections we might find while Wayfaring.
Reality can be a confusing mush of occurrences, and sometimes it is helpful to look at what we find in smaller (but essentially unified) divisions.
Many people will have far more complex and detailed maps of reality, and I appreciate this is a simplistic division, but sometimes simple things can be useful.
Backwards, this map is GNOS, which means ‘Wisdom’ in ancient Greek. In my experience, very few people have the wisdom to put G first in their encounters with modern reality. SONG seems to me a more accessible path for people in our era.
The big question with SONG is that if these are connections to reality, who or what is doing the connecting? Finding out is the journey. Walk well!
S: Self.
Self is the first layer of reality we connect with while Wayfaring. We meet ourselves, in physical, mental and emotional ways.
Firstly, the world is met in the body, via our breath and blood and muscle. Animal physicality is the primary truth of what we find, the world of senses and impulse, skin bone and hair. A hill is not a geological phenomenon but a bodily challenge to be met with our legs and back.
Secondly, the self arises through our mind, in all our thoughts and memories that unfurl like the petals of a flower in sunshine. Associations, ideas, memories, dreams - these are the personal realities we meet.
Thirdly, the self blends physical and mental to create our emotional reality, a powerfully creative series of transformative sensations, those feelings that can become all we are.
This is the first layer of connection we encounter while Wayfaring - the Self - in powerfully healthy ways. Physically, constant walking is one of the healthiest activities available. Mentally, Wayfaring offers freedom for the mind to wander and encounter, prompted by the rhythm of footsteps. Emotionally, living outside our small square boxes allows our emotions to take proper context, and we can avoid getting stuck within their dramas. The world around us is also emotional, and bigger than us. This context is important and helpful. When all of Nature is singing with joy, it is simply harder to feel morose.
Wayfaring also helps prevent emotional concealment, the feelings we pretend not to feel. Distractions are removed, and the continuous movement of Wayfaring allows the rising of old locked-down emotions to be felt, met, and lived out. There may be tears and smiles. On the path, you’ll find the places to let these feelings happen.
O: Others.
Other people are what we next encounter while Wayfaring - our human context. This may be those who matter most to us - our friends and family, living and dead, who we carry in our hearts and minds - or it might be the strangers met along the way.
Wayfaring helps us to work through our human relationships, the overlapping edge where I meets You. With the distractions of modern life diminished, our human relationships become ever more important realities to explore and honour.
Wayfarers, always arriving at the right place at the right time, enjoy the privileged position of being able to offer help and support where we find it required. Imagine it from their point of view - forever you were not there, then one day you just turned up, on a journey, at exactly the right time. Enjoy making the most of these ‘coincidental’ meetings. They are perfect synchronicities, and every stranger is family we have not yet met. Offer the help you can. Become a passing legend whose memory they will always carry.
N: Nature / Non-human
The world is almost entirely a non-human reality. We share this planet with vast numbers of other life-forms, plant and animal, microbe and element. The essential background to all our life’s journey is Nature. However, humans increasingly forget this. We have constructed stone and metal dreams where Nature is not permitted to intrude. But you cannot carry these with you while Wayfaring, so we can return to our place in Nature, and meet it as just another animal passing through.
Be sure to greet the trees and stones, the birds and insects, the flowers and winds. They were here first, and they are not separate from you, but are as connected to you as they are to each other. It is vital that we remember we share an eco-system, and Wayfaring offers us undeniable prompts to help to re-establish this as truth we know deeply.
G: God/Goodness.
The interconnected sum of all reality is called by many names. In Western spirituality, the odd little word ‘God’ is often used. A danger is that these three letters have been attached to all sorts of varied and incredible images, which if we are not careful can discredit the greater concept.
The common global meaning for ‘God’ is a totality of existence, all inter-connected and deeply intelligent. Of course us little monkeys and our clever machines cannot understand or measure this. Why would we be able to? Everything we measure with is part of the whole, and by measuring we are changing what we measure.
Because all things are connected in their wholeness, we have an inherent and undeniable moral reality that may require interpretation, but is nevertheless a natural part of all life. We all know what it means to be our best, to do good, and to help the world. And we all know the opposite.
On a Wayfaring journey, such aspirations become closer and more achievable, not just for our own satisfaction (though Self is a crucial part!) but for the whole SONG pf which we are all part. Wayfaring makes our hopes and needs for a just and honest life become more viable and more obvious. It reminds us that every action ,each thought and word and footstep, has consequences because it is connected to everything else. We cannot escape this, it is just how reality happens. And thus arises our natural, sacred responsibility and righteous hope.
Wayfaring offers us a space to discover how we can be as good as we believe we might be. We can pick up litter, help animals and people, think good thoughts, and make wholesome connections. We can find a clearer opportunity to be our best selves. This is the ultimate blessing of Wayfaring. This is the Song.
If you are interested to know how to experience S.O.N.G. as a Wayfarer, the answer is simple: You S.I.N.G.
S: Slow down. Stop often.
Wayfaring cherishes slowness and connection over convenience and speed. Keep your journey unbroken, a single whole offering on foot. Stop as often as you feel the impulse. You will pass this way but once. Go as deeply as you can.
I: Be Intentional. Improve the way.
What do you really seek on your Wayfaring journey? Speak it aloud somewhere significant, ideally near the beginning of your walk. Revisit this intention at all special places along the path. It is the gift you carry for yourself.
Also be deliberate with the good places you meet. Add ritual to encounters. Practice circumambulation - walking a clockwise circle around holy places you encounter. Making a circle honours the centre. Also, make sure the path you walk is better for your having walked it. Remove other people’s litter, leave no trace, help those you meet and tread lightly.
N: Need less. Notice more.
When Wayfaring, set out with as little as you believe possible. Pack light. What is on your bag should not be your guarded world, so much as a small pack of helpful assistants. The less you have, the more who you are, and where you find yourself, become the main realities. Practice listening. Try to be quieter. Observe yourself, other people, the land and what unites us. Cherish what you find.
G: Give Gifts. Be Grateful.
Carry an offering to share as you go - something special. A songworks well, as does special water, or a caught leaf, a found shell or a beautiful stone. Some people like to leave a hair at special places, as a part of themselves. Don’t leave anything that might harm a place, or be construed as pollution.
Try to remember that the world, and the good things you see and feel within it, are yours to borrow for a while only. Be glad this experience is being shared with you. Offer thanks as regularly as you can.
This is all merely personal advice. These are not rules, nor am I an authority. I am just another Wayfarer, and I often struggle to follow my own suggestions. This guide is offered only in the hope that something here may help you toward whatever path you seek.
