I returned early January from 2 full and rich weeks with so much wonderful family and friends. Two dear friends I haven’t seen in almost 2 years, Yaniv and Sara, also came to see me and meet my son Orion for the first time. Yay!! What a special time to reconnect and I so appreciate them and the nourishment, reflection and mutual enrichment they provide just by asking me, my parents, all of us meaning-filled questions.
Life is a miraculous journey of learning and I know one powerful way I learn is through the stories and lived passions of others and sharing my story and living passions. The act of reflection, either in hearing and receiving another’s story, or in engaging in my own always bears fruit and often bears unexpected clarity and insight.
I have and continue to learn much from my dear friends, Yaniv and Sara. Yaniv and I used to be roommates in an eclectic heart-centered home in Berkeley while I was in grad school. From the beginning of sharing our journeys, I have always admired his trust in his own intuition and dreams. It inspired me in a crucial point of my life to say no to self doubt and embrace the budding, burning dreams within my heart and open to the wisdom pouring through my own dreamtime.
In this visit over new years, Yaniv shared how my love of nature, outdoor exploration, movement, adventure, qigong, backpacking have all inspired him to make a change in his life to embrace actions to support his healthy strong and supple body. For some background, Yaniv had come up to Seattle to visit me in summer of 2009. We went for barefoot runs, practiced qigong in the park, and this is the summer I had discovered backpacking and was “on fire” about it!! I LOVED it and went on 8 trips that season!! 🙂 I talked Yaniv into going on his first trip and while physically challenging, it was magical in so many ways!! Including waking up with a mama and baby mountain goat peeking in at us as we peered out of our tent in the early morning sun! 🙂 All this daily movement and magic inspired him to make a change. Yaniv’s wife Sara, also shared that she had a realization this past summer after doing her first backpacking trip. She desired to support her body in being healthy and fit so she could explore, know and learn from our mother Earth more deeply through her body. She thought of me and asked to share some of my practices.
Yaniv’s sharing and Sara’s insight and questions reminded me that my doing what I love and am passionate about and sharing that with others is a GIFT I give to the world and those around me. What a wonderful reminder! YAY! And I share this as a reminder for us all – as it is true for all of us. How liberating that our special medicine for the world is indeed birthed through doing what we love and sharing our passions!
Earlier this year I had a dream that reflected this message too. In this dream, I was witnessing people doing what I had done for years while I lived in Seattle. They were biking around the city gathering the magnificent and glowing Qi from the beautiful big trees, bright colorful flowers, stunning views of Mt. Rainier, the Olympics and Cascades and they were getting so HAPPY and feeling so much JOY!! Haha! 🙂 Yay! This had been a daily practice of mine as I bike-commuted around Seattle for the 9 years I lived there. I used to plan out my daily routes based on which beautiful, big trees I wanted to see and visit, or what stunning flowers I could greet that were in bloom on certain street corners, or, if it was a sunny day, which glorious mountains could I beam at as I enjoyed their magnificent Qi while peddling along my way. In the dream I saw others doing this and I was so HAPPY that they were getting so happy doing this too!! And that they were getting inspired and healthy by being outside! What a joy to see and also realized that doing what I do is important and is a contribution.
Sometimes I have negative thoughts that tell me what I do doesn’t matter or make a difference. And if you experience this too, or doubt that doing what brings you joy matters, may this post be another affirmation that it does indeed matter and you matter! 🙂 So Blessings on you all in 2019!! And may we journey forth with great love in our hearts, allowing the great Joy of living our Medicine to bubble up from the Earth into our happy soles and fill our beings with a Radiance that blesses all Life!
