My husband and I made a commit to each other that we would continue to do 3 things; follow our dreams, continue to travel, and make being together as a family our biggest priority. So far so good! In fact we are approaching a major trilogy of anniversaries; our marriage, our son Dylan, and the Somerville studio turn 10 this year.
Following Dreams
I talked about this in the previous post. Following your dreams doesn’t mean that you have your head in the clouds. Quite the opposite, to me, following one’s dreams is about staying on track, keeping oneself firmly grounded and connected to the things that are important. A few weeks ago, I flew out to Arizona to travel with my family once again in the RV(her name is Bimbo by the way because she is shaped like a loaf of Mexican Bimbo bread). Anyway, we met a woman who was interesting, inspiring, determined, and a consummate dream follower. Her name is Belle Star, and she is the fifth cousin of the notorious, gun-slinging Belle Star of the late 1800’s (http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/star-bel.htm). We found her and her ranch through a website about boon-docking. Boon-docking is when you can park your RV someplace but it is not actually a campground. It can be in a Walmart parking lot, on federal land or, in this case, at Belle Star’s Ranch, Silverado (http://bellestarraz.blogspot.com/).
Traveling
So why do we travel? To meet people like Belle Star of course. Not to just meet them but to learn and be inspired by them. Being a yogi/yogini is not just about teaching asana. It is about making connections with other beings, human and otherwise. I not only want myself and my kids to experience other cultures and lifestyles, I want to be a forum for them to make connections with others. When we were in Mexico, one of our goals was to report back to folks here in the US that it is a beautiful country with wonderful people just like them. Not a bunch of drug cartels. In fact, being on the US side of the border was incredibly eye opening. There was a strong presence of Border Patrol everywhere we went and they felt scary and threatening. Belle said they had come on her property a number of times, knocking down fences and entering buildings. They actually shot 3 of her horses in one of their “visits”. Did you know that there is an exception of the search and seizure laws(4th amendment- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception) at and near the US border?
Belle Star
Belle Star has a ranch with about 100 animals which she takes care of by herself even though she is 80 and in a wheelchair. She lets people camp on her property in exchange for either a donation or help on the ranch. Steven put a new roof on one of her out buildings and the boys and I fed the animals. We bought a 100 pounds of carrots! We had an amazing time. There was a couple there, Cullen from Maine, and Serene from Canada. She was an equestrian and was working with the horses. The boys road their first horse with her. These guys were interesting and talented and had a spark for traveling and living with less stuff. We talked into the night around a bonfire accompanied by the sounds of coyotes.
“How do you do it???” “I wish I could do that.”
Serene and I talked about these two things that people say to us a lot. I hear this about traveling, homeschooling, not eating meat, working less and spending more time with family, the list goes on. The answer is, anyone can travel if they chose to. That doesn’t mean that planning isn’t involved. As I said in my earlier post, it’s hard work to make your dreams happen but soooo worth it.
Questions
Ask yourself these questions.
What are your dreams?
How do you want to live?
What is important to you?
Who do you want to be?
Then…make it happen. Peace, Mimi
