Cairn:

A mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark.

Oxford Languages (Oxford University Press)

Have you ever been out on a hike enjoying the scenery, breathing in the fresh air, and then suddenly realize you are lost? You look around, a bit disoriented, wondering how you got off the trail. You were sure that you knew the way.

No problem, you will just use your phone and find some directions. No service? Oh no – this can’t be happening!

You look around to see if you can find any other hikers – somebody to help you. Nobody is around. The woods are so peaceful, but your heart is racing. You are lost. What was once a peaceful, restorative hike has become a scary, anxiety-inducing event. Should you just start walking? Which way would you even walk? You stop and listen for the sound of water. All you hear are the birds. You kick yourself for not paying more attention to the route, to landmarks. You look for the sun, to mark its position, but you find that it is straight overhead. You could wait until it starts to fall toward the west, but you don’t even know which way you need to head.  You just know that you are lost.  You have also been hiking for hours, so waiting might mean returning home in the darkness.

Just then something catches your eye – a stack of five smooth stones, the bottom one is the largest one, and the top one is fairly small. You recognize this as a sign – it is meaningful. Somebody has been here before and they are giving you hints to help you find your way. You begin searching for another one. You see one a bit down the path. You head down the path toward that stack and see yet another one. You might be on an unfamiliar path at the moment, but you know you are being led by somebody who has been here before. You need that right now, just until you get your bearings. After following the path of cairns, you find yourself back on the familiar trail and you are then able to navigate your way to safety.

Cairns are guidance for us when we feel lost. They are guidance for us even when we don’t feel lost. Sometimes we are just walking along the trail and we notice a cairn off to one side. Maybe somebody is trying to tell us something – that there is something worth seeing off the beaten path.

Cairns are suggestions, ways of communicating with one another. They aren’t demands or warnings. They aren’t mandates to follow. They don’t prevent danger or wrong turns – they are simply guideposts. Marking a path that somebody else previously took – marking the way that worked for them. They are optional. They are just something to consider.

If a part of a trail was certain to be a danger to those who walked along it, the land manager might consider putting up a RISK sign – something to indicate a steep and dangerous cliff or a sign to mark private property that should not be trespassed. Cairns would not be useful in that situation. Cairns, again, are suggestions. Just markers from fellow travelers. Sometimes mundane and ignorable, sometimes profoundly welcomed and life-altering. It all depends on your circumstances at the moment.

We are all following a path – in general, it is the same path, but it has lots of different sub-paths and trails that lead through different parts of the mountain. The options sometimes seem limitless – we are constantly faced with choices, options. We are certain sometimes that we know the way, and other times we feel like we are spinning in circles, unsure of where to go next. Sometimes we feel like we have retreated back to the beginning of the path and we lose hope. Cairns won’t eliminate these setbacks. Cairns are bursts of hope and guidance along a path that you still ultimately have to navigate yourself.

So, I offer these cairns as guideposts that have served me well. You very well might be on a completely different path and the guidance won’t be useful to you at all. Perhaps some of them will be gems to you and get you oriented back to the path you were on, but most of them will be of little value. That is ok. Ultimately, not only do you get to pick your own path, your path is the only right way for you. As I’ve walked my path, I have had times where I rely on guidance from others more heavily, and times when I sense that my intuition is guiding my way. You have no need to walk the exact same path that anybody else has walked. You are you and just being you is enough. However, join me if you want to as I share a few things I have found along the way.