Initiation (The Lightning Strike)

---

At the age of 17, I left home in the summer of 1993 to embark on a great adventure. I spent the next three summers hitchhiking and hopping freight trains across the USA. I was young, naive, overly optimistic, and most certainly a free spirit at heart. I have many stories to tell from this time in my life, but one really stands out as a particularly memorable experience. 

I'm going to tell it to you here. 

In the summer of '93, I hopped a train to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I was blown away by how beautiful it was. It made a deep impression on me. I knew I needed to come back to Colorado, to spend time there and to explore. 

The following summer, in 1994, I returned and found myself in the town of Ludville. From there was a perfect view of Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado, at 14,433 feet in elevation. I knew that I had to go to the top of that mountain. 

With me was Mr. Wiggles, my loyal and trusty dog, who was right at my side through many of my adventures during that time in my life. 

We camped at the base of the mountain and hit the trail just before sunrise. It was long and exhausting, the views were spectacular. The climb to the top was epic. Finally, I reached the top of the peak. Being that high up in elevation is such a magical experience that is difficult to describe. The air is thin, it feels as if you are on the crest of a giant wave, in the midst of a vast ocean, in a sea of mountains. 

But as soon as I reached the summit, I realized there was a very big problem. A massive black cloud was approaching from the opposite side of the mountain and was almost on top of me. I knew I needed to get down from the top of that mountain now as that dark black cloud was about to hit me. 

And that is exactly what did happen. It hit suddenly and it hit hard. It began to hail. 

The hail was coming down so hard, it felt as if I were being rained on by rocks. I had a rain poncho I had put on. It was hailing so hard that the poncho I had on was torn to shreds. 

Lightning began hitting the mountain. It felt like bombs were going off all around me. There was no period between the flash of the lightning and the boom of the thunder. I began to panic, and I didn't know what to do. 

I looked down a ways and saw a large boulder. I began moving towards it as quickly as I could. As I was getting near the boulder, something changed in the air. I was wearing a winter hat that covered my ears. The sound of static electricity was going crazy between my hat and my ears. I could feel the electric charge in the air. I thought to myself, is this the moment right before I die? 

I was almost at the boulder, I reached out my hand, and when my hand touched the rock, it was like I hit a light switch. All at the same moment, there was a blinding light, I deafening boom, and a heavy impact crashing onto the top of my head. 

Ever since, I have described it as if someone smacked me on the top of the head with a cast iron frying pan. I fell to the ground. I have no idea how long I was out for. When I came to, I had no idea what was going on. 

I didn't know where I was or what had happened. I was overcome with fear; I was completely convinced that a mob of people was chasing me and throwing large rocks at me. One of them must have hit me on the head. I got up and pressed myself against the side of the boulder, trying to hide behind it so they couldn't find me. I was so confused. Who are they? Why are they trying to kill me?!

The hail was still coming down hard, and so was the lightning and thunder. After being there for however long, the rational part of my brain began to slowly come back. Wait a minute, why would there be people chasing after me? Why would they be throwing rocks at me? Is there anyone really trying to kill me? Then it dawned on me, and I realized what had happened. 

I had just been struck by lightning!!

Suddenly, the storm stopped, and a bright double rainbow appeared, stretching across the sky. Like, I could almost touch it. I could hardly believe what had just happened. It felt so surreal. I then began my way down and off the mountain. Just like that, I walked off the mountain and into life. 

Being struck by lightning has a much deeper meaning for me than just an event in my life or an interesting story to tell. A door was opened for me in that moment. Part of my life philosophy is to say that we have the opportunity to access a fuller life when we can accept and understand the inevitability of what appears to be opposites.

Our existence on the physical plane depends on polarities. We are surrounded by examples of it in nature. The north and the south poles, day and night, positive and negative electricity, masculine and feminine. 

This also exists in our inner world. Arrogance and humility, hopelessness and joy, contentment and discontentment. When we resist and cannot accept one or the other, it ultimately leads to pain and an inability to resolve the issues that we are continually faced with in life. 

To stand and face what we resist, or what causes us discomfort, is one of the great keys to mastering the human condition. For me personally, one of the primary issues I have had to overcome is a deep oversensitivity to emotional pain or discomfort. For many years, I avoided pain by constantly moving towards pleasure. 

I unknowingly created a whole world of unresolved issues that only expanded the more I tried to avoid them. I made unhealthy choices in seeking short-term pleasure that ultimately led to long-term pain. 

Being struck by lightning was the initial door that opened up my unresolved trauma. Panic attacks and confusing situations that didn't make sense, deepening patterns with avoidance of uncomfortable issues, overwhelming sense of shame or lack of self-confidence, eventually becoming lost in addiction, which brought me close to death. It was only in getting lost in the darkness that I was able to turn towards the light, to find my true self. It's only in facing my pain that I have been able to overcome my issues, and transform. 

It is in this way that I'm able to say that my pain is the greatest gift that has ever been given to me. 

- Scotty