we are well met, are we not?

I put that I was looking for my ka-tet on my mood today. Not familiar with the term, The iPhone Goddess asked what a ka-tet was. I thought that it would be good to define this concept.

A ka-tet, according to wikipedia, is a concept created by Stephen King for the Dark Tower series and is defined as the belief that a group of people can be tied together by fate, or ka to journey down the path that only they can travel.

Not to say that I would base a life philosophy on a science fiction series, but it does make sense.
The path from the ghetto girl to wunderlustful traveler to bohemian mother to researcher and educator has been an adventure with pitfalls and pratfalls and dead ends and now I find myself in the wide valley, with choices, many of them good, some of them great.

And therein lays the danger.

When one is faced with bad choices, the better course of action is clear, whether you want to follow it or not, you now what you must do. However when the choices are good, that is, when there are several that you desire and you have to choose between all the things that you desire, you must have the courage to choose the path that will take you your ultimate goal and go through the grieving process of giving up the rest, freeing yourself from 'what could have been'.
And if you are anything like me and you have been without for a good part of your life and lust for knowledge an experience, this is a painful process.

So what does one do to find the path and stay on it with a clear mind and a joyful heart?

You find your ka-tet. You find the ones drawn to you by fate and you travel with them, giving love and support, investing in their growth as they travel with you as they invest in yours.

This is the hardest part, at least in my experience, because it involves finding and nurturing the spirit of many, being patient and waiting for them to see AND surrender to the touch of fate.

Their acknowledgement and desire to walk the path with you is all important. You cannot force another to see where you fit- most will perceive it as an attempt to use them, sleep with them or make another type of gain, none of which is of service. They must see the path to you. And only then will you, that is, both or all of you, will know which way to go.

This process is a personal one, different for every person. My process simply stating a goal to the universe (you may know it as praying) and then I find that my thoughts fall upon a person or a process that is needed. It isn't always the person I'd expect or the method that I would find desirable or easy, but with a surrendered heart and mind I make my of service to them, seeking nothing but the path, and if they don't see or see but do not acknowledge, I have gained the joy that comes from giving, and they have gained the service for the asking. If however, they see a path, if they feel fate drawing them to you, they will, at least, in my case, respond in kind- through service. And through that the path is clear, though no eye can see, the course laid down long before waiting to be found.

And so I have found myself drawn to the beginnings of my ka-tet.

Softly and gently (or sometimes not so…) we tread towards fate.

Fearful, intrigued, joyful.

And well met.