Sometimes when you find yourself in desolate places, the almost total absence of life can inspire new life in mysterious ways. This eureka moment occurred to me while questing in California’s Death Valley. Actually, a group of us were questing in the more remote Eureka Valley, the southern section being part of Death Valley National Park.

Yes the terrain was barren, unforgiving and place names such as; Horse Thief Pass, Last Chance Range, Funeral Mountains, Furnace Creek, Saline Valley and Badwater describe man’s harsh history with this desert region. For four days I lived in this desert, slept under the dancing stars, fasted only on water, coped with high winds and continuously tried to escape the unrelenting sun.

So why would I quest in such a desolate place? Simple. The purpose of a quest is to ‘see what is… what really is’. Stripped down to the basic necessities of life, removing all societal distractions, provided a unique opportunity to deeply reflect on my life purpose and our human predicament here on earth.

My ‘eureka’ moments were many. Aside from enjoying the spectacular scenery, I slowly gained more clarity about what’s next in life (my current internal desert). Noticing the abundant life in this most unlikely place; the songbirds, snakes, spiders, hawks, dragonflies, coyotes, and blooming cacti, all nudged me to remember that if I stopped to look closely, life is everywhere. They had evolved to adapt or die … what could I learn from witnessing this and more importantly will humanity be able to do the same?

Always returning spiritually refreshed, my time spent totally immersed in nature, even one as brutal as a barren desert, mysteriously enabled new ideas, insights and possibilities to appear … I found new ‘life’ in Death Valley.

Thanks to Sparrow Hart and my Stonepile Buddies for sharing this experience.

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