Travel Without/Journey Within

GiGi Desaulniers

Do people still say “without” meaning “on the outside of?!”

I want to speak from the heart of what I know.  Always I have found my best expression through the meeting of art and story.

Whether we are traveling to work, going on a long journey or walking around a park, that travel without cannot help but inform our journey within.

The Light always continue to burn within, always there is enough light to take the next step, say “yes” to the next chapter.  My old friend, Emily, used to tell me, “Keep blowing on the coals, GiGi.”  That is how simple it is.  We all have that Light within.  Wherever you sit or stand or lay as you read this, the burning coal in your heart simply needs your breath:  the realization that you are alive for a purpose, are loved more than you could imagine and have within you the power of the One Who Breathed You Into Being.

I have traveled to Fiji, to Ireland, to France and to Italy (the latter for just one day!! ).  And, yes, there is India! 

For the last 33 years of my life, my journeys to India have filled me with joy, stretched me, pushed me, molded me, informed me, taught me, left me scarred, healed me.  I am in debt to the people of India for teaching me lessons of love, kindness, and hospitality which led me to respond most passionately.  It is on these travels that my focus falls more often than not.

On each travel without, my inner journey­­­­­­­­­­­­­ traveled deeper.  From my earliest travels to Kolkata (then Calcutta) volunteering for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity to the later years of creating an NGO which grew and blossomed through the determination of the Matigara women whose sights were set on positive change, I was emboldened, informed and  provided the Source-light for each next step.  

I invite you to explore the inner story through the paint on the canvas, each cut of the silk screened paper collage and through words that form text on the page. 

I can only tell this story from my own point of view as is true for your own journeys.  The Grace That Shapes Worlds beckons us to listen to those stories from each other.  How rich we are, how much richer we become! I hope you will be inspired to tell your own unique story.