Honor the Journey

By Allison, Skyland Trail adult client, read at Arts in the Garden 2024

Honor the journey There is In every story: A hero And a villain A beginning And an end

And the story follows the hero Along their journey Doing whatever it is That they do

And there is seldom judgement Of how heroic the “hero” is For most sit on the edge of their seat For the duration of the adventure

And the adventure The journey The voyage The expedition That they go on Can be one of many Different types

And in he heroic journey, Most heroes start In the regular world Then move forward With their call to action Sometimes followed by refusal Leading to a helpful mentor Jumping in

Everyone here at Skyland Trail Are all heroes Truly By definition Main characters Each in our own story

Our mentors are our PCs Our group leaders And even sometimes Our peers

And once the hero’s mentor Begins to help The hero crosses the threshold Into their test They define allies and enemies Then go through the ordeal Of transformation From ordinary To hero

And dear Skylanders Your enemies might be hard to explain To other people They might live in your head Like mine But your allies are easy As you can look around And see We all here are your friends

And as you transform During your time at Skyland You will blossom and flourish Into a hero of your own sorts Ready to take on every road block Ready to take on the challenge Challenge for us of Trauma Pain Suffering Challenge for us of Anything we endure

And as the hero Returns to their world So does the story Wrap up in conclusion

The story for you Might start with Skyland Trail The story for you Hopefully has many sequels to follow

Dopamine levels rise As the so called hero Rises to the occasion Seemingly once more

And for all your eternity You will stay Your own hero In your own story Where there will be battles And there will be victory Time and time again Calms after storms

And your villains Will fall behind Meaning nothing Anymore And your story Is uniquely yours

So go out there Live Honor Enjoy Your journey