Connecting with the Warrior Within

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you intentionally ask life for “warrior training”… and life responds by putting a 50-pound backpack on you and sending you straight up a mountain? In this solo episode, Wil shares the story of an eight-day, 32+ mile backpacking journey through Sequoia National Park that became one of the most physically demanding experiences of his life. Going into the trip, Wil set an intention to discover more deeply what he was capable of. That intention was tested almost immediately: steep climbs, intense knee pain, blazing sun, thousands of feet of elevation gain, exhaustion, and one particularly brutal 13-hour day that ended with him slowly descending a mountain alone in the dark. And yet, somewhere inside the experience of having absolutely nothing left, Wil discovered that somehow… he could still take another step. But the warrior training wasn’t only about individual strength. It also became a lesson in receiving help, generosity, vulnerability, brotherhood, and the extraordinary intimacy that can emerge when people move through something difficult together. In this episode, Wil explores: The fears he carried into the wilderness A sacred (and somewhat silly!) dream involving “mall angels” What a grueling day in the mountains taught him about perseverance Discovering strength beyond the mind’s declaration of “I can’t do this anymore” How shared hardship created profound brotherhood among the nine men Finding joy in skinny-dipping, mud, ramen, creek water, stars, and simple acts of service Improving his relationship with meditation and stillness How eight days almost entirely without a phone changed his experience of presence Encountering Shiva through the themes of dissolution, transformation, endings, and renewal Holding grief and heartbreak alongside the possibility that endings can also contain mystery, sacredness, and meaning Ultimately, Wil returned home with a deeper knowing: I can do hard shit. And that knowing isn’t just about hiking mountains. Most of us have some metaphorical mountain waiting in our lives- something uncertain, uncomfortable, or frightening that asks us to become bigger than the version of ourselves we currently know. Maybe you don’t have to know that you can make it all the way to the top. Maybe you only need enough courage to take one step. And then another. And another. Sometimes we have to climb the mountain to remember who we truly are. Connect with Wil: wil-fullyliving.com Instagram: @wilfullyliving Check out Inirly (the group that organized the trip): https://www.inirly.com/ If Queerly Beloved speaks to you, subscribe, share the episode with someone you love, and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Support the show