New Mexico: Graduation Trip
- Raven Shree
- Dec 15, 2025
- 9 min read
I gifted myself a week-long trip to New Mexico to honor my upcoming graduation & the completion of my eight-year MiddleWorld Apprenticeship. I kicked off this road trip with an 8 hour drive from Denver to Santa Fe, and along the way I played music, sang, cried, laughed and enjoyed being on the open road.
During my drive I reflected on the many Yes's and No's I experienced throughout this Apprenticeship. I'm glad I said Yes to living this program so deeply, and I'm so happy it's coming to an end. It's been quite the journey!
Below is a little peak at the shapeshifting sky I was blessed to drive under & sing with as I kicked off my road trip.
Maxwell Wetlands
Along the way I explored an area in northern New Mexico called Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge, It was amazing to see wildlife still in the area so late in the Autumn season. I would love to come back here in Spring when birds are migrating back into the area.
While here I had a powerful experience with Sandhill Cranes. I saw them first while I was navigating a very muddy road. Then I saw & heard a group of them flying overhead. The sound these creatures makes is ancient & beautiful. And they dance as part of their mating ritual, which speaks to the dancer inside of me. What a blessing this location was to my spirit.
Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Cranes are some of the oldest living bird species on Earth (over 2.5 million years old). Their wisdom teachings speak to:
Long soul cycles
Patience across lifetimes
Trusting the timing of your life
Returning to what is sacred, again & again
Cranes are ceremonial birds. Their dances are both play & ritual. They teach us that:
Your body is an altar
Movement is prayer
Ritual aligns you with the sacred
Joy is a gateway to devotion
When Sandhill Crane appears, it means:
You are at a threshold
You are entering a new rhythm or season
A long-term cycle is completing
Ceremony is needed to anchor your next steps
Santa Fe, NM
When I arrived in Santa Fe it was quite the adventure finding my AirB&B. Roads are very thin in many of the residential areas. It's hard to turn around if you make a wrong turn, especially in my big truck. I had to back down several small dirt roads in the dark, which was quite a test of skill, patience & presence.
I eventually found my Airbnb which served as a wonderful sanctuary for my stay. I enjoyed the skylights, stucco walls, private courtyard & bathtub. It was lovely to stay in a stucco home that had so many regional touches as part of the ambiance. Even the dishes were pottery from the area and etched with the Medicine Wheel, which is an emblem for the state.
Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico. It’s at an elevation of 7,000 feet & has a population of 90,000 people. It’s a small town in one of the poorest states in America, however, it has a rich & vibrant art scene, both indigenous & desert contemporary. I appreciate this aspect of the town immensely.
The architecture in Santa Fe is unlike anywhere else in the country. Almost everything is adobe or adobe-inspired, with curved edges, grounded earth tones, and a softness that blends into the desert that surrounds it. By ordinance, there are no tall buildings or skyscrapers in town; nothing to overshadow the mountains, sky, or spirit of the land.
Holiday Tradition
I enjoy coming to Santa Fe at the end of the year. There is a beautiful tradition here of putting out luminaries called Farolitos. These small, glowing paper lanterns line rooftops and walkways & add such a special charm to the area. T
Traditionally Farolitos are made from brown paper bags weighted with a small amount of sand and illuminated from within by a single votive candle. Today, some use LED candles, but many homes and historic districts still honor the old way with real flame. This is such a beautiful tradition that adds warmth to the darkest time of the year.
Breakfast Time
When I travel I like to explore breakfast spots, it’s my favorite meal of the day and it connects me to the heart of a place when I travel. On this trip I discovered an amazing bakery called “The Chocolate Maven”. I had breakfast here & it was great! I purchased a whole pecan pie from their bakery to eat while I was on the road.... oh my, what a decadent decision!
If you are in Santa Fe I recommend this location. Stock up on the yummies, they are worth it. This is a place I'll visit on all my future Santa Fe trips for sure!
This Too Shall Pass
One of the phrases I'm working with deeply on this trip is “This Too Shall Pass.” Most of my life I’ve heard this phrase offered during difficult moments as a reminder that suffering will not last forever. However, I’ve grown to find deep value in connecting with this phrase during times of ease, beauty & grace as well. It invites me to really drink in the good & savor the sweetness while it’s here… because this too shall pass.
My time in Santa Fe is illuminating this truth for me in many ways. New Mexico has always been a challenging state for me to be in. It is filled with stark contrast, a place of striking beauty and unsettling edges.
On this trip there have been moments of beauty & awe I want to soak up with my whole being because I know they are fleeting. And there have been moments of pain, irritation & sadness. During these heavier experiences I am striving to remind myself this too will shift, soften & eventually dissolve into something new.
We are participants in a constantly shifting universe. Nothing is permanent; everything eventually changes form. Yes, some hardships linger, but even in the darker stretches of experience there are embers of beauty if we keep our eyes & hearts open.
Meow Wolf
One of the highlights of my time in Santa Fe was visiting Meow Wolf, an immersive, interactive art experience that invites the inner child in all of us to explore & play. I've been here several times, and each time is such a unique experience.
One of the main reasons I came here this time around was to see the new exhibit by Danae Brissonnet. She’s an amazing shamanic, surrealist artist from Quebec, Canada. Her creations speak so deeply to my soul. I knew this would be a wonderful MiddleWorld opportunity for me to engage in as I integrate & complete my Apprenticeship.
I spent quite a bit of time communing with Danae’s work and her exhibit called “Temple with a Thousand Stories”. Her murals are huge & deeply layered. Each wall felt like a living organism. I had a rich experience walking up & down the portal stairs, with each step offering me a reflection of my own Hero’s Journey.
I was especially moved by her art featuring beetle & ant medicine, her “Tears of the Sun” imagery, and the spiral-and-spine motifs that reveal layered stories of life’s evolution. Moving through her exhibit inspired me at a such deep level, calling me deeper into ancient patterns of evolution & emergence. This exhibit awakened & inspired me immensely.
Parkbench Ministries
When I began my MiddleWorld Apprenticeship eight years ago, one of my assignments was to engage in what I called “Park Bench Ministries”. After spending so many years in the Underworld doing solo depth work far away from people, the MiddleWorld invited me to bring my ceremonial prayer practices into spaces closer to humans.
Sometimes this was on a park bench, along a nature trail, or in the back of my truck at a trail head. I would set up shop & do my thang. If humans passed by while I was in ceremony, I would engage with them like I would any other wild animal, with curiosity, reverence & openness.
For a while, this practice became a wonderful part of my Apprenticeship & connecting with humans in the MiddleWorld. When Covid hit, this practice fell away from my life, and I never fully returned to it.
Living in Contrast
One of the rooms that pulled me in at Meow Wolf was a black-and-white space. I sat at the table there, settled in & used the space to reflect on the theme of binary thinking & either/or patterns (something I tend to engage in quite a bit).
As I sat there in contemplation, it became a mini park bench ministry experience. People wandered in & out of the exhibit, pausing, watching & interacting with me like I was part of the exhibit. This experience reminded me that I can engage in my soul work in the heart of a wildly public space and have sweet interactions with the wild animal of my species.
Ojo Caliente
After my time in Santa Fe, I drove to Ojo Caliente Hot Springs, which is one of my most favorite places in the world. I discovered Ojo at the beginning of my Apprenticeship, so returning here now at the end of my program is perfectly full-circle.
The land here is sacred & the waters are spectacular. Each pool is infused with its own mineral medicine, such as iron, arsenic & lithium. I love that it’s quiet here, free from the noise common at so many other hot spring locations.
I was here in late Autumn. The weather was cold enough to really enjoy the Hot Springs and warm enough to do several mud bath ceremonies and swim in the big pool, which is not heated. It was so much fun to swim in the bog pool. I did handstands, played, swam laps and talked with others. It was wonderful to be reminded of how much fun it is to swim!
There’s a restaurant on site which I appreciate since this place is quite isolated from much else. The rooms here are pricey, however staying on property is absolutely worth it. When it’s warmer I like to truck camp in their campground but it was too cold for me to do that on this trip.
I was talking with a woman here & mentioned that I’ve considered moving to Santa Fe just to be closer to Ojo. She smiled and said, “That’s exactly what I did ten years ago,”
It was lovely to hear her story of leaving New York City to build a life here. She said her first year here all she did was sleep...the energy frequency in Santa Fe was so different. But she found her way, has slowed down, lives more simply, and has found peace, joy & love in the area.
Those of you that have been following my story for the past 8 years know that I’ve been exploring various places and considering where I want my next home base to be.
This trip to Santa Fe is making me see that as I consider my next move, rather then looking at places through the lens of my younger self (which is long gone) I need to consider what would nourish me in my elder years. That’s a totally different energy! Now I better understand why I never found my new home base during my Apprenticeship …I wasn’t ready for it energetically.
Honoring Endings
On this trip I did a release ceremony with a corn husk doll I made during covid. I released her body back to the earth & I wove her hairs into prayer bundles. I released some of these bundles to the earth for slower transformation & some into the fire for quicker transmutation.
As I moved through these layers of release, I thanked the energies woven into this doll for the teachings brought into my life about love, forgiveness, boundaries & evolution.
Ceremony is a powerful way to process feelings & honor turning points in life. This trip to New Mexico has offered me many moments of ceremonial prayer to honor this ending of my Apprenticeship & bless what is slowly emerging for what might be next in my life.
The Spiral Adventure
Every Hero’s Journey asks us to return home changed, carrying the medicine we gathered along the way. As I complete my eight-year MiddleWorld Apprenticeship, I feel the threads of my story weaving themselves into something new. The lessons, the Yes’s and No’s, the initiations and integrations… all of it has shaped the person I have become in this moment.
I don’t yet know the form of the next adventure, but I can feel its pulse. And so, I bow to this ending with gratitude, and step forward, softly and bravely, into the next chapter of my becoming.
And to you the reader,,,,may your own spiral journey through life offer you courage to honor your endings & inspiration to step into your next beginning with tenderness and wonder.
Integration
As soon as I got home from this trip, I created a page in my art journal around SandHill Crane, the powerful totem that initiated my journey, and had big teachings to give me about this transition I'm moving through. Here's a short video of that creation process.
If you feel inspired to explore your own Hero’s Journey through art, reflection, and creative expression, I warmly invite you to my next online playshop:
Connect with the Yes that wants to lead you forward into the new year.
January 17, 2026 (via zoom)
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