The most destructive societal belief we have in today’s mindset is this: That there is no one answer to healing. That every one heals differently. That we are all alone on our healing journey. That every individual just has to “figure it out” on their own.

So I see isolated, lonely, lost, confused, unaware, hurt people reinforcing their aversion to trust in a community as they isolate themselves further. I see a sea filled with millions of little boats, each one with a broken mast, no oars, lost at sea. Each one insisting “I gotta do this alone! There is no one right way!”

I sigh. And walk my way up to the torch. My own Lighthouse of Pharos. The story comes to life in my mind.

I have always seen a lighthouse in my mind. I was 12 when first I envisioned it. A Lighthouse. The universal symbol of Knowledge. Why do you think Alexandria had a lighthouse on its pier? Alexandria. The Education and Learning Capital of the Ancient World.

I pull my shawl around my shoulders and climb the circular steps.

The Subconscious Mind is predictable.

The Subconscious Mind is Identical.

The Subconscious Mind is my little bitch.

I have done little else for 30 years, but walk in and out of a thousand Subconscious Minds… My own included. I am the Queen of The Darkness for a reason. It’s why I wear the crown. I arrive at the platform and hang my lantern. I open the glass and smile.

I too thought that I had to do this alone. I too thought there was no one waiting for me at the end. I too thought Isolation was part of this journey and it’s destination. Oh… how wrong I was. And that toxic mindset unnecessarily delayed my healing.

I spent the past year, hanging out in the back of the room, waiting for anyone else to raise their hand and say, “Hey! I know what’s going on! I have a plan! This is how we’re going to fix this world!” But no one did. So many people have such good hearts in the right place, but no one is connecting. No one seems to know how to turn dreams and talk into action. But I do. And no one else stepped forward. I know. I waited. I watched. It’s time to take action.

I lit the match and touched my flame to the wic.

The torch ignited. The glass awakened and I adjusted the mirror. Through the darkness, the light pierced the black. I tightened my shawl around my shoulders and walked outside to the circular balcony that encompassed the light.

Ignorance is the darkness. Knowledge is the light. Information, compasses, and maps. Answers, directions, and solutions. Engines that harness your mind and propel you forward. Community and family. Dreams and hope. The resources to get it done. I have done little else for 30 years, but prepare for this moment. I was 12 when first I wrote about a little girl who journeyed into a forbidden lighthouse to hide away in secret and read and learn under penalty of death.

You know. I think, at long last, it is time I finally write that book.

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” 

“Come home to me,” I whisper. The wind whips my hair across my face as I look out into the storm raging upon the sea. “The beacon is lit. The Mother is calling you home. I know who you are. I know where you are going. I know why we are here. I know the hell you have lived through to get here, for it too is the journey I have walked. I can’t carry this burden for you, but I can shine my light on the story stones I walked through that same darkness so that you too may find your way. Healing is my Mastery. The Subconscious Mind is my pet. You do not have to do this alone.”