Expedition of the Heart
- A series -
The name/concept “ Expedition of the Heart” came to me when I visited Villa Balbianello in Lake Como.
The name stuck for 2 reasons:
One: While I was at the Villa I signed up for the tour and that’s the first time I heard the name “Guido Monzino” . The moment I heard the tour guide say it, something in me knew I was hearing his story for a reason. Guido (a businessman turned explorer) is the person responsible for making the Villa what it is today. What I loved most about his story was that he built the villa in the name of beauty. He wanted to leave a legacy; a place people could visit for years to come to experience such beauty. I thought to myself, “Me too Guido, me too… I also have a dream of contributing something of beauty to this world”. As I left the Villa I kept thinking how oddly similar Guido and I were, we were in fact both explorers in our own ways. We both had embarked on our own personal expeditions, but mine wasn’t Mount Everest, it was my heart.
And that’s what this journey became, an ‘Expedition of the Heart’. I’d make my own summits along the way, finding places that felt like home long enough to rest, to refuel, only to pack up and continue on my way again. There were times when I was weary, made mistakes, took turns I shouldn’t have but I learned with each step…I learned to let my heart lead the way.
Reason 2:
I once worked with a healer in Australia (at the time I was still struggling with the lingering symptoms of Bulimia). I sat in her office and she put before me a red glass and a green glass and asked me to pick which one I liked more. I froze. I was paralyzed with indecisiveness (which I often am)…I didn’t know! I didn’t know which one I liked more. She said to me, “Molly, this is the core of your issues…you’ve silenced your heart’s desires for so long that you no longer can hear what it’s trying to tell you.” I’d lost the connection to my heart (myself) and I guess I’ve been on a journey of reconnecting with it ever since.
That process is a slow one. One requiring patience, self-compassion, and commitment. But Guido Monzino also had a personal motto that applies to this:
“Gradatim Conscenditur Ad Alta”
Which, essentially means: step by step, the mountain gets climbed.
All of our journeys are simply a process of steps. Sometimes we move forward, sometimes we move backward, but as long as we never give up the process teaches us what it means to listen to our hearts and to trust ourselves. We may never know where we ultimately end up - all we can do is have the courage to keep putting one foot in front of the other and trusting that our hearts truly know how to take us exactly where we’re meant to be.
