Pilgrimage/Facilitation despite CFS

(Me, in green, leading a workshop in May 2015)

Please help me get further down my path of self-development so I can fulfill my mission of empowering and liberating people!

THE SITUATION
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) mysteriously led me to a calling for holistic facilitation. But because of CFS, I haven't been able to do much work or anything else over the last four years. In spite of that, I set a goal to walk Spain's Camino de Santiago pilgrimage this fall, and I started training in July. Additionally, I'm going to attend a seminar on large group facilitation in Barcelona to get more training. My trip will run from Sept 1 to Nov 10.

WHAT I NEED
I have estimated the total costs of the trip and added some to cover GoFundMe fees. Any contribution will help make the trip more feasible. Jump to the bottom of the page to find out about rewards I'm offering for donations.

Here's how I will use donations:
Flight to/from Spain ($1,200)
Six weeks of pilgrimage (approx. $1,500, incl. food and lodging)
10-day DDI Intensive seminar ($1,250)
Food and lodging in Barcelona ($650)
Domestic transportation within Spain ($300)

WHAT IT WILL DO
The pilgrimage and seminar together will help me overcome the mental and physical limitations of CFS and get on with the life I'm supposed to live. By donating, you'll make it more likely that I can create real change in the world through group facilitation and related activities. You'll also be supporting the idea that people can transcend chronic illness to live a life of direction and purpose.

I'll be sharing photos and behind-the-scenes updates as I go on my email newsletter, Facebook, and Twitter. You can find out more about me on my website. Also, please read my article published on Elephant Journal about preparing for this trip.

TESTIMONIALS FROM MY WORKSHOPS
“Thank you, Nick Meador, for leading one of the more moving workshops of my life.” -Carrie Luna Collins

"Nick, thank you for facilitating the workshop at YogaFest. It was the most powerful experience of all the workshops I attended that weekend. I would go as far to say, it was the most powerful I've experienced in a long time. I 'see' people, if that makes any sense, and you are pure of heart. Intentions are genuine, I can hear it in your voice, sense it in your being. Thank you for honoring your truth and serving others. I had reached a point of 'dislike' for workshops but the YogaFest workshop reignited a new trust. Thank you!" -Ericka Tithof

“Your workshop was the most profound thing that happened to me at Lakes of Fire. It helped me to understand and learn a lot of things about myself I didn’t realize, and it was really amazing to learn so much from other people too. Your mediation turned it into such a fluid conversation of so much sharing and outpouring of emotions and energy, it was very, very powerful. I really have a deep respect for what you do.” -John Maguire

THE LONGER VERSION OF MY STORY
Hi, my name is Nick Meador. I'm a holistic facilitator, intuitive coach, and writer. My mission is to empower and liberate people! My work focuses on communication and awareness training with the aim of healing and self-development.

I found facilitation—or it found me—after a major illness began in 2011. Muscle aches, exhaustion, and mental fog have been part of my daily life most of the time since then. Western medicine calls this "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" (CFS), yet it defies medical explanation.

My search for answers and healing led first to new meaning, purpose, and direction in my life, when I found body-oriented therapies and holistic facilitation paradigms. Now I've completed 50 days of intense experiential training in facilitation, and I lead group workshops and work with people in private sessions.

The best way to continue my training now will be by taking classes and seminars in various facilitation, healing, and communication systems, and also by seeking out a wide range of life experiences. So I'm planning a journey to Spain this Sept-Nov with two goals.

(Camino del Norte)

One is to complete a 10-day training seminar in large group facilitation with the Deep Democracy Institute (DDI), a think tank with centers in the U.S., Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, and Kenya. This year their annual intensive will be held in Barcelona in early October. About 100 people from around the world will gather to practice facilitating diverse large groups. This can be put to use in resolving world conflict situations, improving organizational communication, optimizing grassroots movements, and more.

My other goal is to walk as much as possible of Spain's famed spiritual pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James). This could potentially involve up to 500 miles of walking, spread across six weeks. I expect to divide it into two parts, walking some before and after the DDI seminar. And I plan to take the Camino del Norte, which goes along the northern coast of Spain.

(Barcelona, Spain)

Knowing my health situation, this might all sound a little crazy. But I just know deep in my gut that I have to do it. In numerous ways, this trip will put me further along my path towards fulfilling my life mission. A big part of that will be about overcoming the mental limitations of living with CFS –  and regaining some of my physical capacity as well.

// Workshop photo by Christopher Selomon Closson for Project Bring Me to Life.
// CC photos of the Camino del Norte and Barcelona from Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/5237978221/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/freecat/3930404355/