In 1995, I received Reiki training for the first time. During the training, I received a message to leave the job that I loved working with kids and families in crisis, my home by a brook, give everything I had away, and walk across the country so that I could practice meditation and Reiki all day, every day. I was already removed from pop culture and didn’t know what was popular at the time.
As I passed through towns and villages, kids and families would gather behind me and walk with me.
They would often ask, “Are you walking for peace?”
I felt incredibly honored and seen. I thought it was amazing that the meditation and Reiki I was doing all day were so obvious to everybody that they knew I was walking to achieve inner peace.
Sometimes, kids would walk with me for 30 minutes or even an hour. They were quiet, respectful, and present.
This is an excerpt from the essay on Medium, Walking for Peace: Monks, Mystics and Michaels. You can view the entire post here.
Michael Swerdloff