Morgan Freeman (Red) steps out of prison in Shawshank Redemption…
Writing a book is funny. I finally have the willingness to step fully into it. I’ve had starts and stops throughout this last year (one that I thought was promising) but couldn’t find on the true point of departure. Now I have. I wish I could say that I feel comfortable or confident about the writing ahead. I don’t. I feel blind. The only thing I know is that I will do whatever it takes to follow the road.
All in all, the feeling is unsettling. I feel like Morgan Freeman (Red) stepping out of the prison gate in Shawshank Redemption after 40 years of incarceration. Wearing a suit, tie, hat, and carrying a singularly austere suitcase, Red tries to smile, nods to the guards, and steps outward. But of course, there is no one there, nothing waiting, nothing. Red hesitates with uncertainty and steps forward anyway.
I have the most amazing writing teacher and confidante Patricia Francisco. I remember a defining moment for my life in what seemed a casual conversation. I was coming down the stretch drive of writing Waking. The story arc was forming into a moving, gut-wrenching tale of losing innocence. She said something like, “This is really working. You know though, you still have to sell me the car.” She meant that I had achieved a beautiful story about mind-body integration, loss, and human innocence. But I still had to make my next work more practical, even more accessible to people. Story can only take things so far. Eventually, people need to know why they should buy the car.
I knew she was right. So I set upon a path. Since my book release in 2006, I have been developing all sorts of practical training through my non-profit Mind Body Solutions. We have trained over 500 yoga teachers in a revolutionary approach to sharing yoga with people living with trauma, loss, and disability. We have developed groundbreaking curriculum on integrating yogic principles into the delivery of healthcare. I have spent the last 8 years trying to show that mind-body integration is an effective and useful car.
But now I am stepping once again beyond the gate. There is freedom in leaving the constraints of teaching. But there is also incredible uncertainty. I felt it this weekend as I watched Red leave the prison. The oppressive freedom of life on the ‘outside’ almost does Red in, all he feels is afraid. Thankfully, the final message of Shawshank Redemption is one of hope. In the final scene, Red accepts the importance of hope and finds his friend on the beaches of Mexico.
We all have times of transition, times that we step into a much bigger world. This year I watched my son step into high school. I will watch him step into college, into more and more life adult life…if I am lucky, I will witness his journey into fatherhood. I know that he will be afraid, that he may not realize the freedom that surrounds his every step. So it is with all of us. Leaving behind the security of what is comfortable are the most important steps that each of us take. Like Red, let us be guided by hope. I know I am going to.