Tripping on Sidewalks

The beginning of a new cycle

By: Hannah Lundquist

I’ve been tripping on sidewalks recently. By that, I mean literally falling. It’s been happening to me for weeks now, and I didn’t know what it meant until recently. 

I had a huge realization about a week ago, one I haven’t had before. It happened after I had tripped on the sidewalk for the second time that day. It hit me hard—really hard. This realization had been following me for some time, pushing me onto the sidewalk. It was pushing me in a metaphorical and also a literal sense. I figured this realization must be related to the spiritual awakening I had experienced at the start of the pandemic. Prior to my awakening, I thought I had been doing everything correctly, doing what needed to be done and going about my life, but I hadn’t been, and this realization was another reminder of that. This reminder was telling me it was time for a new life cycle.

I had been resisting this new cycle for many reasons. A large part is that I didn’t feel worthy enough for these changes—good, solid changes—to come into my life. The changes I started to see happening were related to my friends, my major, living by myself, and uprooting just about everything from my previous lifestyle. I was afraid to fully commit to a new cycle, one that would bring light to places I had been hiding in, places that needed exposure and openness. I had been subconsciously trying to stop myself from letting in what needed to be let in and letting go of what needed to be let go. There are things from previous cycles that I am not ready to let go of and I am scared that if I let go I might not experience something like that ever again. But I ask myself, and I ask you: what if letting go is the only way to let in? You must feel something too: something is about to happen. I think change always happens regardless of if we’re ready or not, but the push onto the sidewalk that makes me look like a fumbling idiot to people on the street is a signal to not only my physical body, but also to my brain, that it’s time, and I need to stop resisting. 

I have stopped putting up resistance over the past few weeks because while I didn’t understand why I was tripping on sidewalks, I knew I needed a change in my life. I also knew I needed to further my spiritual journey. For me this looked like meditation, connecting with my tarot cards, eating three meals a day, and getting nine hours of sleep at night. Once I did that, things began to fall into place like they hadn’t before. Now, on the path of least resistance, as I like to call it, one where I no longer resist good changes, I am able to see why I needed to let go of past things and make way for the new. But if following the path of least resistance is so hard, why must we do it? I find myself asking that question to anyone and everyone, including the sun, the moon, and the stars. No one has a definite answer, but I think I might now. 

Following the path of least resistance brings you things that you didn’t know you needed, places you didn’t know you needed to go, people you didn’t know you needed to meet, and experiences you wouldn’t have had otherwise. The path of least resistance, much like tripping on a sidewalk, can be embarrassing. It can mean quitting something that you just started, or it can mean putting up boundaries with those you love or yourself. It can be asking for help when you need it, or it can be doing anything that is solely focused on you.This new cycle doesn’t only apply to me, as I believe it is a major change in the collective consciousness: we’re in this together.

So with that, I ask my final question: are you ready for this next cycle? And have you been tripping on sidewalks too?