On a recent trip to Arizona I met up with my friend Michelle for a couple of days. She lives about 90 mins from Sedona; neither of us had ever been there, so we decided to take a day trip. 
I was curious as to how I would feel or if I would feel any of the talked about energy of the place. I have to say that driving through the different communities along the way I did experience very strong vibrations emanating from the land. Some of which had me physically vibrating, which was an interesting experience. I don’t know why I vibrated, I just did.
As we got close to Sedona itself, I felt a deep sense of internal and physical calm. Something that is rare outside of meditation. It is hard to explain, except to say, norm for me is a constant state of energetic push and pull. Being clairsentient (clear feeling) can be exhausting.
This was a very interesting and restful experience for me. In that moment of inner and outer peace, I could see myself wanting to return here just to experience that feeling again.
I also wanted to see/feel what all the fuss was about with vortexes: concentrated spirals of energy. Sedona has several of these and people come from all over the world to experience them. Each vortex has its own unique energy signature, or at least that is what the brochures say. So I had to find out for myself.
We were not going to be able to get to all of them in one day, many of them require long hikes, so we chose two. For the purpose of this story, I’m sharing my experience with the first one, the one closest to the Airport. This one is said to represent masculine energy and lucky for us, was rated mild for hiking.
Mild if you are NOT afraid of heights and are used to climbing; neither of which described me or Michelle. It was a hill really. It had no clear path to the top; you had to find your own way up. It had lots of loose rock and prickly bushes. Oh, this hill was at the top of a mountain we had driven up, so anywhere you looked was down.
We just focused on one step at a time and finding the next best place to move. About ¾’s of the way up, there were no obvious steps left to take. We could hear people on the top, but we could not see them. We were shaking from the nerves of making it this far. (Did I mention that both Michelle and I are afraid of heights?) We decided to sit to try to relax and hopefully work up the courage to continue. Of course this just gave us a clear view of DOWN. Not my idea of relaxing.
At this point, we were discussing continuing or going back down. I wanted to find a way up, after all, I was this far already right? However, finding a way up was not nearly as challenging as finding a way past our fear. We decided to wait and see how the people who were at the top made their way down. Strategy trumps fear.
Eventually, 2 couples made their way down from the top. I noticed they were seniors, which is not unusual. I know lots of seniors that are very active. One couple came down towards where Michelle and I were sitting. The first thing I noticed as they were coming towards us was that the woman was wearing flip-flops. Flip-Flops! She walked up this hill of loose rock, prickly bushes, and downward views in flip-flops and I am sitting here shaking. Going up was the only option left for me.
To reinforce the theme of the vortex, as they were walking by, she said to us to “do only what you are comfortable doing, don’t push yourself.” Her husband said, “you have made it this far, you have to go the rest of the way.” Remember this vortex represented masculine energy. Hmmm.
Michelle and I looked at each other and instantly understood the message of the vortex for us. We were going to find our way up to the top. We did. We worked together one step at a time. No going back. 
When we found ourselves on the solid ground at the top, I cried. It was an absolute moment of connection. I cried tears of joy and elation. We had heard the message and followed its lead; we were rewarded with the knowledge and confidence of conquering our fears.
We took in the glorious view that greeted us at the top. We made it. We conquered our fears.
I reinforced two beliefs that day:
The other side of fear is unimaginable joy.
There is power in sharing the journey.
How will you challenge your inner self today?
What will you do to reach the side of unimaginable joy?
How will you share the journey?
