Naked: A Journey to the Unknown

By Juana Vasquez

Tired of staring at the four walls of a chapter that has ended, Gigi follows the voice of her soul, which cries for change and broken patterns and procedures. After realizing that routine limits, stifles, and imprisons her, she embarks on a journey to discover her soul’s desire. She carries with her a bag filled with things she assumes will give her strength, power, and determination; she has no idea that these are the very things that hinder her.

Her quest is to go to Callicoon, a small town located in upstate New York. She remembers it as a place where she breathes peace and beauty, with a stillness that brings her closer to God. To get entry into Callicoon, however, she must overcome herself. She faces many difficulties, but the biggest one is at the Churchill, a vendors’ road that appears to be a colorful and fun place. The people there dress in vivid colors and have excessive charisma. Captivated, Gigi decides to camp there for a while to release her mind from the chaos she has faced up until then. Shortly after her arrival, she encounters the greatest challenge of her life. Can she find the key to freeing herself from her attachments?

This novel follows one woman’s mystical journey into the unknown as she pursues personal growth through fear, faith, and courage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781480886933

Juana Vasquez

Juana Vasquez was born in the Dominican Republic in 1971 and immigrated to the United States in 1990. Her interest in human behavior and in challenging herself led her to study the science of religion and metaphysics over the course of twenty years. She currently lives in New York City.

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Copyright © 2020 Juana Vasquez.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Text corrector: Teresa Beutel

Editor: Rossalinna Burk

Translated by Juana Vasquez and Teresa Beutel.

Cover designed by Julie Walsh.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Used by Permission HCSB © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 Holman Bible Publishers. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-8692-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-8691-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-8693-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020900331

Archway Publishing rev. date: 02/03/2020

To my beloved friends

and family.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these

three; but the greatest of these is love.

—1 Corinthians 13:13

CONTENTS

Preface

Author’s note

Chapter 1 The Journey

Chapter 2 Getting to Know the Path

Chapter 3 Challenges of Faith

Chapter 4 Doing Better

Chapter 5 Continuing My Journey

Chapter 6 In Battle with Fear

Chapter 7 The Churchill

Chapter 8 Transformation

PREFACE

I t is only by living that we learn to live. Life is short, yet it’s the only vehicle through which we can learn about ourselves. To exist is to have the opportunity to arrive at all those places that enslaved our soul and thereby learn to liberate it of all its obstacles.

In this universe that is our home, our nest, our refuge, and our biggest challenge, we find the people we need for our personal growth. The relationships we manage to build become our guides. They reveal to us all the secrets we carry inside. We connect to our life story through them. They guide us, pointing out which paths to take and what we must release and appreciate.

We are born with the bonds we have dragged from previous lives, and the mind operates as a magnet, attracting all the circumstances that will show us the state of mind we possess.

Life does not give or take away anything; we sow what we reap. When we are born, we pick up from where we left off. Even though at birth we do not remember anything, our subconscious mind holds all the information we need and offers us what is already there—nothing more, nothing less. We repeat all that has been lived but has remained unresolved.

Our responsibility in this life is to become free. It is a crime to leave this earth having done nothing to awaken what is inside us. When we lose this life, and God only knows how many more, we must be reborn in the same shoes, to then walk in the same footsteps and repeat the same story until we have learned our purpose.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I ’ve learned that we must face all the challenges that life presents. Amid all its mysteries, life always give us the tools to find the truth about ourselves. Every personal story is different, and only by walking in our own shoes can we walk the true path of our lives. It is through our own steps that we will meet the people who will help us become free from the ties that bind us.

We tend to avoid difficult situations when we are not connected to our real story. When we are connected, we don’t run away when things get difficult. We allow the heat of an intense moment to take place in order to understand the root of our fears. If we do not face difficult moments and dissect them, we are subject to repeating the same old story.

We cannot connect the pieces of our puzzle by avoiding our reality and only focusing on what we think is good about ourselves, just to have a good story to tell. If we want to be free, we need to confront all that is tumultuous, difficult, and frustrating to then understand it. It is the only way to end our suffering.

We must come to understand the drama we create because drama generates pain, and pain directs us to love. Love is found amid the heat of fear.

We believe that our attachment to material possessions, careers, and people will define us as human beings. Attachments are nothing but our personal insecurities, viciously hiding the reality we carry inside. Liberating ourselves from these attachments at times may seem difficult, especially when it comes to what is personal to us. However, this is the precise vehicle to personal liberation.

The work required to move away from our attachments is complicated because most of us do not know how to live without direction. The irony is that there is no job, place, person, or thing to do the work for us; we must forge ahead and do the work that is necessary to become free.

CHAPTER 1

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The Journey

I find myself sitting in my bedroom, staring at the four walls of a journey that has now ended. I observe my reflection through an old mirror hanging on the wall directly in front of me. As my mind wanders, I contemplate my droopy eyelids, my messy hair, and that corner of my house that I perceive through this mirror that is useless, dirty, and old and has no purpose.

With my senseless gaze, staring at that single spot, I feel torn. Where do I look today? Perhaps I should look at the encounter with this precise moment that is now useless to me. All I know is that I can only feel the dense air of all that makes no sense in my life—my feelings, my surroundings. Everything seems dead.

As I meditate about my life, I can’t help but wonder about my next chapter, and I ask myself, What do I need? Confused, I search my notes and an old manuscript, trying to contemplate every inch of this scene, examining the root of my anxiety to determine my concerns and what should be my next step. But I find nothing. I begin to cry because I don’t know what to do. I only hope that, with the tears, God will reveal the journey I should embark on, because I find nothing in my notes or my thoughts; my mind is blocked.

Days later, on a bright and fresh night with a full moon, I realize that being still is neither a pattern of mine nor a theme in my life. It is precisely this stillness that torments me. I know that the fury I hold inside has everything to do with the uneasiness that follows me around. It always dictates the next step to take. I can’t understand why everyone else seems peaceful, while everything inside of me is in such turmoil.

Amid the chaos, sweating profusely, and with dark thoughts, stomach cramps, and a million doubts, I decide to go for a walk. I walk toward the nearest park that is close to a beach. I choose this park not only because it’s nearby but because I need to sit by the water, facing the ocean, to breathe in the salty air and contemplate waves, which can be quiet, rough, or moved by the wind. I want the perfect reason for existing to appear in a clear mind and the turbulence in my mind to disappear while I contemplate the sea. I know the fresh sea air can clear my thoughts and help me find what it is I must do in this very moment of my life.

On my arrival at the park, I remain quiet for a while in the presence of God, now reflected in the immense sea before me. I feel the fury expressed in the waves. I let myself be carried away without allowing the doubt or alarming agitation coming from my chest to impede this moment.

Here, submerged in silence, I’m determined to find God’s help. I only want to allow His will to be my guide, without a single word, with a blank mind to let in just what God wants.

In my silence, I find the strength to ask God for His help, His mercy, and, most of all, His guidance. I know I must keep going. My soul longs for it, but I don’t have direction.

After having connected with God for a while and feeling more at ease, I decide to go back home. My emotional instability requires an internal reorganization, a good starting point. My inner voice tells me that I must keep searching for a place of peace.

I pace back and forth in my apartment, now that I am again inside. I want to feel this space that has been my home for so long, to know if it still belongs to me or if my time here is up.

As I continue pacing up and down, all I find are dead walls that don’t have much to tell, except a useless routine. I have hidden inside this space that I have allowed to become uncomfortable because the next step scares me. I think about all the times I got up only to do the things I had to do, things that are essential for the lifestyle I lead, or maybe the things required by society. I must work to pay my debts, pay for the food and the electricity I consume, buy new sheets that’ll keep me warm, pay for the water I drink and the soap that cleans me, and everything else. In the end, it’s all I do; I survive.