So I’m getting ready to drive across the country to speak at the Wild Goose Festival in the mountains of North Carolina in a few days. Doesn’t the very idea of a gathering called the Wild Goose Festival make you smile?

The term “wild goose” is a Celtic spirituality metaphor that evokes unpredictability, beauty, and grace. I grew up hearing the term phrase “wild goose chase” used to denote a task that was of no apparent use or lacked a predictable outcome. Because wild goose chases are not productive in the efficient Western way, they are usually referred to dismissively, if not with downright derision. A complete waste of time.

I beg to differ.

I see life’s wild goose chases through a Celtic lens. Rather than beings futile, they are beautiful, graceful, unpredictable adventures. If my destination is not set in stone, then I am not disappointed if I veer off course. Indeed, some of life’s most spectacular moments are the unplanned ones. The ones that happen when we’re following our own inner wisdom rather than a self-imposed plan. When we are on the wild goose chases of our souls.

We can’t live life as one giant wild goose chase, for there are, of course, meals to be made, finances to be managed and responsibilities that require a modicum of foresight. Summer, though, is the perfect time to throw out your compass and live with a wild goose mentality for a few months. People seem to accept that things are less structured during the months between Memorial Day and Labor Day, so you won’t ruffle too many feathers.

What is that thing that’s been nagging at you to explore? That idea that doesn’t make a lick of sense but keeps calling to your heart. Now is the time to draw it, write it, paint it, build it, sing it, dance it. To give it life for no good reason. To embark on your own beautiful, graceful, unpredictable wild goose chase.

Need ideas for how to get started? Join me and a gaggle of other wild goose-minded folks who’ll be speaking, singing, moving, praying, meditating and praying the whispers of our hearts. Whether they make sense to anyone else or not.

Please comment below if you’d like to share the beauty, grace and utter unpredictability of your own wild goose chase. I would be honored to share your journey.

The Wild Goose Festival—in Hot Springs, NC (near Asheville) June 26-29—provides space for courageous, imaginative, and participative social justice work, creative expression, spiritual practice, and astonishing music. My session on yoga as a liberating practice will be Saturday, 6/28 at 9:45 in the chapel. Use promo code MCHILSON for a 30% discount on tickets.