01/11/2026
Too much focus on trauma is "bad medicine." I've led vision quests for almost 40 years, and vision quests and rites of passage were always about empowerment, about facing the frightening Unknown, while finding and developing tools, ways, attitudes, and stories to live passionately and have a meaningful life in a world that is and always has been filled with challenges and danger,
Energy flows where attention goes, and the continued focus of attention on our victimhood reinforces it. We become what we behold. Whether driving skiing or throwing a baseball, where our eyes go, we follow. The relentless focus on trauma, and safety -- especially among some of the most privileged people in human history, denies us the opportunity to discover our courage. Living without an experience of courage produces neurosis and fearfulness while contributing little that's good and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
