We all have an inner Zebramingo. A very unique animal, with an authentic truth that can be elusive, hard to understand, and hard to find. Often we are paralyzed by fear of taking the wrong steps while tracking this inner truth. We have a fear of getting lost, of going so deep within ourselves that we won’t be able to find our way out again.
Professional animal trackers understand the inevitability, and even the importance, of losing the animal’s track and getting lost. Boyd Varty, a lion tracker in South Africa states that when they lose the prints, they are never truly lost. They just realize they are not on the path they want to be, and this is critical information. Without this realization, they will never be able to pivot and redirect. They will never be able to learn and grow.
“You track your life like you track an animal, but the track you follow is joy in your body.” - Boyd Varty
Martha Beck is a renowned life coach whose work I follow closely. She has worked with Boyd Varty and offers some terminology to further expand this idea. She refers to the place we arrive at when we get lost, as “Not Here”. It's a place of recognition rather than loss, where we acknowledge that our current trajectory isn't aligned with our true destination. Instead of fearing this realization, she urges us to embrace it, seeing it as a critical moment for expansion and redirection.
We tend to want to figure it out in our minds and intellectualize it, but it is a more visceral process rooted in a return to our bodies. Physical sensations such as joy, peace, or discomfort serve as compasses, guiding us toward a life of alignment and integrity. When we experience joy and peace, this is tracking feedback that we are on the right path. When we experience discomfort or mental turmoil, this is tracking feedback that we have veered off course and need to adjust.
In essence, the journey to joy and authenticity isn't a linear path but a dynamic process of self-discovery and course correction.
