Fast forward through moving to western Canada, marrying, birthing two glorious boys, (home) lifeschooling, moving back home to care for and connect with kindred family and then back west again, this time all the way to British Columbia, the launch and flourish of careers and now, teens looking for independent flow and mama for self-connection and reinvention – not-to-mention a stroke and heart surgery later to become bionic-Jenni with a keen understanding of how infinitely fortunate I am to still dream and manifest those ‘inklings’ – it was time for a rekindling of a long-held vision.

Actually, embarking on El Camino de Santiago.

And while there is much more to the story, of course, my lovely husband and precious boys knew my heart, expressed their gratitude for my commitment to them for the years of concentrated devotion and encouraged me to soar. And my dear friend (the sister of that boy I’d dated all those years ago), gave me a place to land n’ launch from in southern Spain.

And this is what brought me to here … right here to My Surrender Adventure, that tested me from the outset (you can read more about that here 😊). Holding fast to the inkling, following that wise voice within, who leads while knowing the vast picture of your life and whispers the steps to draw you to the short and long-term majesty of your years, I’d found myself on the threshold of my longing.

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, among other kindred writers and spiritual seekers, formed The Inkling Club in the early 1930s, of which, amazingly enough, I only heard of recently although the word ‘inkling’ has ignited me all the days of my life. Such is the mystery of soulful connection, isn’t it friends?

So, what was this group and how does this tie into anything of which I speak?

“One younger member of the group, John Wain … claimed [The Inklings] were, “a circle of investigators, almost of incendiaries, meeting to urge one another on in the task of redirecting the whole current of contemporary art and life.”

To me they were a band of fellow soul seekers, creatives, interested in the contemplation of life and the encouragement of friendship. Little did I know, as I stood at the path that would begin my El Camino experience, that this is precisely what I would be called to come home and begin after my 233 km trek across Galicia in Northern Spain.

And although I revere what Lewis and Tolkien were a part of … this would not be a ‘boys club’ or take place in a back room of a pub at Oxford, while puffing on pipes and sipping Scotch, but would take us to the Wilds, where we would find that keen balance between soulful self-connection and authentic kindred community connection.

Who knows what creative flow and expression might be born, for evolution of the self and the ‘redirection of art and life’?!

But in this, Surrender-Adventure Treks – Wanders n’ Workshops in the Wild was born.