Harvesting the Medicine of Our Journey

Every hero’s journey begins with departure. We leave what is familiar, sometimes willingly, sometimes dragged by circumstance, and step into the unknown. Along the way we face obstacles, heartbreak, confusion, and pain. These trials are not meaningless, they are the fields where the seeds of our medicine are planted.

The irony is that what we seek is rarely found outside us. The medicine we return with was always latent within, waiting to be uncovered through the fire of lived experience. The harvest is not the shiny accomplishment or the trophy moment. It is the inner wisdom, the compassion, the clarity, the unique frequency of truth that only we could bring back.

Comparison is poison to this process. When we measure our path against another’s, we uproot the seeds before they’ve had a chance to bear fruit. Each person carries a different medicine. What you’ve lived, no one else could live exactly. The suffering you endured, the gifts you uncovered, the insights you carry.

These are yours, and not only are they needed…they couldn’t have happened any other way.

The harvest is not private property. It is meant for the village. The point of returning from your hero’s journey is not to stand taller than others but to pour out what you have gathered, so the community itself is nourished. This is where individual journey meets collective story.

When we see each other clearly, past the masks, past the posturing, we begin to recognize the threads. “Your medicine weaves into mine.” “My medicine weaves into yours.” And together, the tapestry reveals itself. This is how a culture of remembrance is born. Not from sameness, but from the courage to bring forward the distinct harvest of our own lives.

So. whatever your season looks like, trust it. You are not behind. You are not missing it. You are becoming the medicine the world needs, and when you bring it back, you’ll find it belongs not just to you but to all of us.

Thank you for your life and thank you for your medicine!