The Quest for Happiness

4 simple steps to align with your path to authentic joy & fulfillment

I have a rather unusual sort of bucket list: It’s a list of spectacular trees that I’d like to see in my lifetime. I have always loved trees. In my childhood I loved to play in treehouses and climb in the branches of the Liquid Amber Trees that adorned my street and imagine a fantastic world inside my imagination.

Some of my all-time favorite children’s books involve trees: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and The Story of Ferdinand (the Bull) by Munro Leaf (I think Ferdinand was a Taurus, like me).

My current source of inspiration comes from the book Wise Trees by Diane Cook & Len Jenshel. Just a few weeks ago, I visited one of the trees featured in that book, the Wishing Tree in Portland, Oregon. It was an unexpected gift to discover this marvelous tree in walking distance from the Air bnb where I was staying for the weekend.

Three years prior I had set out in search of this tree to no avail. I wasn’t even looking for the tree this tme (I thought it no longer existed) and then voila! There she was, in all her magnificence, with branches full of wishes! She now bears my wish in her loving arms too.

Here’s what my three-year quest to find the wishing tree has taught me.

Step One: Commit to Your Quest

Imagine my delight when just the other day I received a photo of a beautiful tree in my neighborhood from a guy I recently met at a Day of the Dead party. I have no idea what inspired him to send me this picture; I had not mentioned my bucket list or my love of trees prior. But for some reason, he sent me this picture:

Baffled and delighted by him sending me this photo (with no offer of accompanying me to it), I had a choice to make: Would I stay home on a Friday night and continue my Single’s Life binge-watch of Sex and the City? Or would I choose to layer up and head out in quest of a tree, with only general coordinates to guide me? In short, would I choose Soul comfort or Soul growth?

Carrie Bradshaw and the gang could wait: I choose Soul growth and adventure.

Step Two: Prepare for the Adventure

My four legged sidekick Jasper Mraz looked at me excitingly as I layered up for the crisp autumn stroll. Imagine the disappointment in his puppy dog eyes when I told him that this was a solo adventure: just me and my soul going on a quest to find a tree.

Sometimes I like to walk in silence, but for this journey I decided to put on my latest playlist, Grounding Into Love. I thought that giving a test drive to the flow of chosen songs for next week’s Full Moon Ceremony (November 15, 2024) would be a good idea.

Lastly, I gathered my positive mindset, detaching from any sort of expectation to how the quest would go. Would I find the tree? Like Indigo Montoya in the Princess Bride?

I imagined myself gazing up under the canopy of the tree upon my arrival, and the joy of being led (like Indigo Montoya) to my destination. With all my physical & mental preparation done, I headed out into the crisp cool November night.

Step Three: Embark with Courage

I arrived just before sunset and the park was alive with children playing, families taking Holiday portraits in the fall folliage, and tree huggers like me.

Several months ago I had the pleasure of hearing Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love) speak about Life Purpose. During her talk, she spoke about a game that she plays when visiting a new city called “Most Interesting Path.” To play this game, from your starting point you look left, look right, look straight ahead and sometimes even behind you, then choose the path that looks most interesting to you and head in that direction.

I set out towards a hill that was illuminated by the sun, hoping to get an overview of the park and potentially spot the tree from afar. Nope. No vista of the tree, but I did get a beautiful glimpse of the first quarter moon, which propelled me forward to my first tree.

It was a beautiful tree, with a lovely little spot to sit and watch the young family take pictures that would no doubt adorn their Christmas cards this year. As I listened to “The Power is Here Now” by Alexia Chellum, I breathed in peace, and exhaled any stress about my quest or earlier concerns from the previous US election results week.

I continued onward as Brandi Carlile sang about dancing in a hurricane and thought about all the changes that had taken place over the past several years that landed me in this park, alone on a Friday night, searching for a tree. She sings “You can dance in a hurricane, but only when you’re standing in the eye.” It occured to me that nature quests like the one I was currently on, are the moments that allow me to feel like I’m dancing in a hurricane.

Just then, I thought I caught a glimpse of a former almost boyfriend riding his bike through the park. We had recently parted ways in a most painful manner and I wasn’t ready to cross paths with him yet. If I hadn’t stopped at the current tree I was taking pictures of, our paths would’ve crossed and I’m pretty sure I’d have been thrown off center.

Interestingly enough, the next song on my “Grounding Into Love” playlist was “A Reminder” by Trevor Hall. As I stood on the bridge and let Trevor Hall fill my ears with his gentle reminder to find my center, I envisioned how I want to show up when our paths do cross. I saw myself grounded in my authentic power, full of courage & confidence in who I am and all the love I have to offer.

Like a mighty oak, I want to be grounded in love, and let that love flow out from me, instead of fear or pain, or anger or resentment. My job, I am learning on my Soul Quest, is to fill my own cup with love. Nobody else can fill it for me. If another person chooses to drink from the love of my fountain or refuses it is up to them. Either way, my fountain is mine and I replenish its source by going on self love quests like the one I was currently on.

My love is just a reminder, find your center. -Trevor Hall

More beautiful trees called to me as the quest led me across a bridge and out to a pond where I could see the first quarter square between the Sun and the Moon. Thus far, my quest for the tree had been unsuccessful. Or had it?

Joy filled my heart while I danced and watched the sunset from the banks of the pond listening to Phoenix by Katarina Rain. Four years ago, I never would have ventured out on my own on a Friday night for no other reason than to find a tree that was sent to me out-of-the-blue by a near stranger. But the me today has been transformed, like the Phoenix of which Katarina Rain sings.

Day by day since my divorce in 2020 I have been alchemizing my pain into self love. Like this quest for the mysterious tree, it has been a journey to say the least. It was such a beautiful fall evening, with Luna shining in the clear night sky and beauty all around me. I was temporarily thrown off center by a near-encounter that I wasn’t prepared for, but I refound my footing. And even more than that, I began dancing as my joy overflowed for the fun solo adventure that I was having.

Step Four: Arrive with Joy

Here’s the thing. I never found the tree. Does that mean my quest was unsuccessful? Like three years ago when I went out in quest of the Wishing Tree in Portland Oregon and thought it was gone?

Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when she discovers that the Wizard is a sham, there is a brief moment of disappointment. But then she’s reminded by Glinda the Good Witch that the power to return home has been within her all the time. She holds the power. Not the wizard. Not the Emerald City. Not the Tin Man, nor the Scarecrow, nor the Cowardly Lion.

But she had to take the journey to discover her own divine intelligence, self love and courage. And look at all the incredible stories that she has to bring back home to her farm in Kansas!

Whenever you commit to a Soul Quest, you are making a committment to yourself and to your own happiness. As long as you don’t attach to any specific outcomes, and instead attach to the feeling of happiness in the quest, you will be more than fine! And you’ll have one hell of a story to tell.

As I reflect on last night’s Tree Quest, I am filled with joy and inspiration. I know that this tree exists and, like the Wishing Tree, I will go forth on another adventure in search of arriving under her canopy. Until then, my heart is full because on my quest, I reminded myself that I have found something even greater that’s been growing inside of me ever since I stepped foot out into my new chapter as a single women: happiness.

And that, my friends, is worth it all.

Here’s to love and joy in the journey!

Namaste

POST SCRIPT: January 13, 2026

Two years ago I went off in search of the above described tree. Last week, as I was coming home from some much needed solitude at the river, the tree appeared before my very eyes… so majestic, so very large, wise and powerful. 

The funny thing? I wasn’t even looking for it. 

My delight in this joy deferred was undeniable (as evidenced by the gum nearly falling out of my gaping mouth! 😄)

The thing is, our timeline and the Universe’s timeline doesn’t always match up. It took me almost 2 years to find this tree, but the journey to get there and the awe to stand under its majestic limbs… truly priceless.

This wise tree will forever serve as a reminder to keep pursuing my dream, no matter how out of frame it may feel. 

She also taught me to delight in wonder and majesty and to take a moment to celebrate a personal victory!

The joy is truly in the journey. 

But the destination is worth celebrating too! 🌳🥳 When you reach a milestone, bask in the courage, determination and the internal growth that it took to get there. 

And then dream up what’s next?!?

Here’s to love and joy in the journey,

Andrea Blythe….The Traveling Magi of Let Love Rise ♠️