Sojourner sets stage for rejuvenation 

The year was 1996. The book was Dance of the Dissident Daughter. Author, Sue Monk Kidd was feeling the need to get away for awhile. To recapture some inner peace. So she left her husband of nearly twenty years and headed off to Crete where she discovered the Divine Feminine in a cave by singing to some goddess. She then concluded that the goddess was actually inside her and she could find inner peace wherever she happened to be. I can’t begin to calculate how much money this bit of enlightenment must have cost her.

The year was 2006. The book was Eat, Pray, Love. Author, Elizabeth Gilbert was feeling the need to get away for awhile. To recapture some inner peace. So she left her husband and traveled to Italy where she indulged in an eating spree and gained twenty-three pounds. Then she went to India, where some guru taught her how to meditate and get spiritual. Her next and final little getaway was Indonesia, where she learned how to “build a life of equilibrium between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence” and to discover “what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment.” This little learning experience took a whole year and cost her all her earthly possessions. 

The year is 2009. The book is Sojourns, Anyone? A Guide to Rejuvenation. Author, Kathy Meenach of Lawrenceville, was feeling the need to get away for awhile. To recapture some inner peace. So she left her husband and kids and took off on her own venture to be alone for awhile

“I’m married to a wonderful man, mother to two beautiful teenage daughters, slave to a chocolate Labrador Retriever, working full time and living in an ever evolving dream home nestled in the woods. My life is non-stop-go. The demands are overwhelming. By the end of the day, I am too tired to take time for myself and my limit has been reached,” Meenach said. 

“I realized I needed time for myself and needed it badly. Why not take a trip, a sojourn, breaking the endless cycle and going someplace quiet and peaceful with no demands or responsibilities monopolizing my time; just me…spending time with myself.”

.Meenach’s book, which presents the cost-cutter version of Kidd’s and Graham’s self-discovery destinations, serves both as a guidebook and an example of how simple, yet spectacular a sojourn can be. She included journal entries and photographs of her own getaway in a 150-year-old cabin in Tennessee, plus lists of ideas about places and priorities to inspire anyone wanting to sojourn. 
With her open ended options, the sky’s the limit. Meenach doesn’t rule out ashrams in India or caves in Crete, but she does open the reader’s eyes to the beautiful and budget friendly places where one can find one’s self right here at home. To connect with Meenach or other sojourners, visit www.sojournwithmyself.com

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