Archive | Travel Stories RSS feed for this section

Passage

25 Sep

It is an incredibly beautiful day here today.  Unbelievable.  The light is spreading its warmth among the trees and it actually feels good outside.  No bite of the cool air. The only sound I hear is the occasional roar of a farming truck driving by on an outside road and a background of the birds chirping.

I think I am going to cook a little bit of macrobiotic food tonight.  I experimented with eating macrobiotic for a little bit back in New Orleans.  In its simples form.  What I learned from that time is that there are foods that can ease and soothe the soul and nurture the inner world.  I cleaned out the refrigerator today and have full stock of what is remaining.  We have some good root veggies that would be good in a simple macrobiotic dish called nishime.  Nishime may not be a dish so much as a way of cooking vegetables.  Cooking them slow.  Usually in a big pot with a thick lid.  Root vegetables… some of which were new to me like Daikon… and other good ones like turnips and carrots.  We have some Daikon in the fridge and a bunch of carrots and I think some cabbage and onions.  Which will be good in a little light vegetable stew.  Generally you cook it on top of a piece of seaweed.. which I don’t have… so I am going to give it a go without it.  When it is almost done cooking you can put a little Shoyu on it for some added flavor.  My experience is these vegetables come out tasting tender and the slow nurturing root quality is softening and healing.

I first explored eating macrobiotic for personal wellbeing.  I had some big emotions locked in my body and macrobiotic had some good clues of things that may help loosen things up a big… so they can move.  Tips like cookies, cakes, breads and chips can tighten up and restrict the abdominal area… making it difficult for emotions to express.  Chewing every bite 30 to 40 times is good and grounding. And simple things like this style of vegetable I’m about to prepare.  Good ways to feel fed.

I am going through some sort of letting go process it seems.  Not always clear what it is that I am letting go of… but I am aware that something is passing through me like the closing of the night.  And there is some pain… some struggle and some saddness in letting its darkness move through me to… ultimately a new day.  In the face of this I am feeling a little edgy today in Wettenbostel.  Little things are bothering me and I am feeling particularly sensitive and well, moody.

Patience seems to be the call as I walk through this terrain.  A few days ago I turned to the Tarot deck for a few simple explanations.  A good resource for me after years of reading cards in New Orleans.  Often the cards can show me if nothing else the texture and the landscape of what is happening… when one is looking to see what’s on the inside in places that are not ordinarily seen.  And what came up in both cases was the death card.  Death in the Tarot is not necessarily about someone or me dying in a physical way, but it is a death nonetheless.  A passage of the old.  An ending that feels sad and somewhat tragic…. if for no other reason than because it’s coming to and end.  And after an sometimes difficult period there is… a new dawn.

So that is it for today.  Death, letting go and nishime vegetables.  Quite a combination. Oh, and not to forget cleaning of some of the upstairs windows in the Seminar Haus.  A little satisfaction from streaking them clean… inside and out.  And hanging out in the gentle light of the afternoon sun.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

In the Silence

24 Sep

There is a silence at the Seminar Haus today.  Not many sounds to be heard except the falling of the acorns from the trees… and Dan, my fellow American visiting here at Seminar Haus, playing the occasional you tube or video on his computer.  Our host is away in France this week teaching a caligraphy seminar to second degree Reiki students.  And with no seminars this weekend in Wettenbostel, the space is a mostly golden… silence.

I have enjoyed the simple things today.  Mostly… being tender to myself.  An omlet for lunch… leeks, peppers and eggs with gouda cheese.  Yum.  And a walk in the golden fields just across the way.  I strolled for a while… then rested and took in the warmth of the ground.  Communed with the rows of fields before me.  I even found a tree stump that had been carved into a little seat.  A great place to rest.  And later a little picnic table and chairs crafted out of neglected pieces of wood.  Ah.  Feels good.

I took a little dip in the hot tub this afternoon.  By myself this time….The heat of the water was intense and shot through me… I could only take it for a minute or two before I jumped out and returned to the refuge of the house.

This morning I found my way down the street to our hosts home for a bit.  I did some work with our hostess and then gratefully received TWO pairs of warm woolen socks… a little preparation for the cool weather creeping in with the fall.  One pair were bright red ski socks.  On my feet right now.  Ah, oh so warm.  The other pair, Angola wool with pretty pink stars on them.  Deeply appreciated and a reflection of the simple ways our hostess cares for us while we’re here.

Dan is on the porch smoking his pipe.  And I am here.  In the building next door called the little dojo.  There is a soft murmur from farming equipment in the background, working the potato fields.  And that is what lingers today… in the silence of Wettenbostel.  A soft, soothing sound.

-Photo by Michael Hartley

Tags: , , , ,

Being at Home

22 Sep

Nothing is permanent.  That’s what the Buddhists say.  And I am all too often reminded of that… 6 years ago when my apartment and the world I knew were submerged in the waters from Hurricane Katrina…  the somewhat vagabond life that followed… living in Texas… here for a while then there.  And then returning 18 months later to a still unstable New Orleans.  My most recent year in New Orleans, I house sat in other people’s homes… 6 months here… six months there.  And now here I am again, wandering… in Europe this time.  How does a Gypsy begin to be at home?

I started this morning with some of my typical rituals… continuing to build my spiritual backbone… knowing, wanting…and sometimes seeing and experiencing that there is a way and place where I am at home… in spirit.  That is the ground from which I build my foundation. Every day.  This morning I read a passage from A Course in Miracles… reminding me to be open to seeing, experiencing and hearing God in and through all things… that God is an echo beyond what we see and experience.  Oneness. And in that space, home to me sounds and feels a lot like “om“!

It’s quiet today at the Seminar house and it has been good to be able to take my time. Grounding.  I’ve been tending to the basics.  Cleaning this.  Organizing that.  And today, Dan, my fellow American here in Wettenbostel, and I had a big adventure and rode bicycles into the nearby town of Amelinghausen. A neighboring town just 8 kilometers away… it is the closest source for groceries and other basic needs.  Armed with bicycles… that were in need of a little tender loving care… we braved the ride, the two, maybe three hills and safely arrived for a little shopping and a coffee break.  It was my first time “breaking out” of Wettenbostel to Amerlinghausen without the escort of one of our hosts and their vehicle. Being there on the bicycle passing the fields of corn, beets and potatoes just felt good and kind of reminded me who I am.  Nothing exciting or dangerous… but just the pleasure of being on a bicycle… seeing the fields expand and feeling the coolness of the wind.  I had to laugh when on two different occasions I had to swerve my bicycle to avoid hitting a stray potato on the road.  Only in Germany.  Land of the potato. We returned to the Seminar Haus, me feeling victorious at having successfully returned to the mother ship.  My legs were stretched from the exercise and my heart was moving faster.

And now, here I am… back at home.  There is a familiar feeling in spending time at Wettenbostel that gives way sometimes to the peace and ease of home.  But I am aware, in true gypsy form, that my life is still a home in motion.  And I like that.  But in the meantime, I do need to take the time to just be.  Be me.  Ride a bicycle.  Work a little in the garden.  Have some time to relax… work a morning in my pajamas. Watch a movie at night.  It seems with all the chaos not so long ago in my life… that perhaps I was lost.  But every day little by little, in the magic, the ways, the experiences of my life and new adventure…in quiet still ways.. I am found.  I am at home.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Freeing Myself

21 Sep

Since I have been in Europe, I have found that I rely on Facebook.  Keeping connections with old friends, making connections with new friends while traveling.  And… sometimes…staying grounded with the good words that are shared by friends.  Here are a few that touched me lately…  a woman who was in my sorority in college posted yesterday, simply… “make peace with yourself.”  And today I read from Stephanie Jupiter, a friend from New Orleans and doctor, healer, spiritual leader…”Remember it is absolutely ok to love all People. Loving them does not mean you overlook negative habits, it means you 100% accept them for who and where they are in their journey of life. Keep in mind what you put out is what you get back. Tomorrow is Fully Accept Yourself and Others Day. Embrace it and let me know what you experience. ”  It seems that these message are good keys to unlocking something within myself… and that somewhere… making peace with myself lives in making peace with the world around me… the new adventures of Germany as well as the friends, family and connections of home.

I feel foreign here in Germany.  Not just Germany, but Wettenbostel.  And it’s not a good or bad or right or wrong thing… but somehow… unlimited.  Somewhere in the space of spending time with the folks who live and visit here, cleaning rooms, cooking a little food… and extending myself with new people, new experiences… it seems I am waking up something new in me.  It feels like, I don’t know… plenty.  This is connected to being someplace truly new… where there is a different beat.  Where people don’t always speak my language… and where you can have a conversation about driving to Africa… as it only takes three days.  Two days if you “don’t stop to pee”… as I was told.  Finding and exploring that balance between my time.. walking barefoot around the grounds, feeling myself and the feet connected to the earth… and taking a leap…and spending time with others.. even if it’s a small leap to have a conversation with someone who might seem different or unusual to me or with whom I feel uncertain.

Last night we had a little fun welcoming a visitor and old friend of the Seminar Haus.  In typical Wettenbostel form, he came by to hang out, talk, laugh and drink some beer.  Rather than a hot tub this evening, they opted for a fire.  I joined for a bit… enjoying the warmth of the fire.  We listened to music from mostly European musicians which was a refreshing change from hearing so much American music.  It was great to hear sounds with foreign words with welcoming beats and experience a little bit more of Europe through the expression of music.  And Germans sing and play Reggae… who knew?

Today is a cool day with a light mist creeping through the air.  I took a walk in my bare feet this morning and felt the coolness of the grass tickling my toes.  It seems that something new is coming.  I can’t say what it is… but there is something stirring… somewhere in the simple rhythm of being in Wettenbostel.  The walking on the land, the beating of the drum, the being in the day.  Simple pleasures… and new rhythms.

Tags: , , , , ,

Wettenbostel

19 Sep

It is a cool Monday afternoon.  Time is moving slow today… some rest and relaxation after the busy weekend.  Autumn is creeping into Wettenbostel as the leaves are changing color and there is a chill in the air.  On occasion during morning walks I can see my breath.  A new experience for me as I spent the past 12 years in the heat of New Orleans.  In many ways it’s a refreshing change.

Wettenbostel, as you may have concluded, is a small town.  It’s not even a town really, it’s a village.   Hamburg is about an hour away by car.  But if you live in Hamburg you have likely never heard of Wettenbostel.  But here it is, tucked in among the potato and sugar beet fields.  Population 57 I think is what I heard.  That’s not including the neighboring sheep, horses, goats and chickens.

The Seminar Haus and Bed and Breakfast where I am visiting is run by a married couple who are both Reiki Masters.  They have a house where they live just up the road.  And here at the seminar house there are three buildings… the Big House, the Dojo and the Little Dojo. Dan, the other American here and myself both stay in the “Big House”.  There are big expansive gardens.  They are not typical German gardens with neat beds all in a row.  They are flourishing and original, just like the gardener.

The Seminar Haus has a flavor and culture of its own nestled in this little world of Wettenbostel.  It has been here for I think 30 years and over the years it has seen creative summer camps, Aikido workshops led by Reiki Master Paul Mitchell as well as visits and workshops led by the Grand Master of Reiki, Phyllis Lei Furumoto.  It is typical on a given weekend to be hosting seminars such as yoga retreats, Gestalt Therapy training, and even drumming circles.  There are many people who feel connected to this place and its extended family is far-reaching.  From the friends who stop by down the road for a glass of red wine to the dozens of Reiki Maters throughout Europe, there are many unexpected faces who in some way call this place home.  For the Americans out there, it’s kind of reminds me of the television show Cheers… with its array of characters… colorful, fun and sometimes unpredictable… just stopping by.

On a typical day, when there is no seminar, some things perhaps are predictable.  You will likely see Dan and lately myself on the porch of the Big House… often with a nose in a book or computer.  And at some point during the day Dan will get the hot tub going… affectionately called by German seminar goers as the “hot pot”… for a relaxing dip in the tub.

And today, well the sun is shining for now and there is an offering of a little blue sky.  Dan as we speak is getting the hot tub ready… preparing wood and starting the fire.  It’s a good day to relax.  Just be as the week will unfold more work to be done.  Just another day in Wettenbostel…

Tags: , , ,

Goodnight, Alkmaar!

8 Sep

Well it is Thursday evening and I just returned from a bicycle ride into town.  Marijke’s home is in what we might consider the suburbs of Alkmaar.  But in truth it is not far from the center of town.  Just a short bicycle ride away.  The weather outside is cool and accepting.  It was a good night for a ride.

My time in Alkmaar in nearing an end.  I have been here, in truth, longer than I realized as time sneaks by me in my often timeless world.  Over four weeks.  But it has been good.  The time.  The connections.  And the generosity of Marijke of not only extending her home… but her consistent way of offering her hospitality and keeping me in mind as a part of her daily way.  To that I say, Dankjewel!  From the bottom of my heart!

As my final farewell and parting words to Alkmaar and for now the Netherlands, I off my appreciation in the form of the “ode to the bicycle”… Never before have I ever… ever seen such a place that pays homage to the bicycle the way the Netherlands does.  It may be normal life for the Dutch.  For me it is…well, out of the ordinary!  Just tonight I had my premier experience with the Dutch and bicycles.  It is essentially valet parking for bikes.  Okay, perhaps not that formal… but pretty good.  In town this evening we parked our bicycles in a free (gratis) underground parking garage for bicycles.  On the way down the stairs I prepared to struggle with my bicycle as is typical for me when escorting a bicycle down a flight of stairs.  But the Dutch are too smart for this.  First their premier levee system, now this.  Going down the stairs, on the outside, the perimeter of the stairs there is a… how would you describe it… a narrow, smooth track for your bicycle that allows you to easily roll it while you walk the stairs.  Incredible.  And then, when you arrive at the bottom in the garage, the friendly man gives you a numbered ticket… half on your bicycle, the other half with you.  And then you park!   Marijke’s tire was flat, so the nice man used the premier bicycle pump mounted to the wall to put a little air in her tire before she parked.  Outstanding.

I appreciate this the most about the Netherlands.  It’s persistent bicycle culture that has, indeed, put me to shame.  It wasn’t unusual to see someone almost twice my age passing me on their bicycle as I reluctantly asked Marijke, “how much longer now…”  A bicycle ride in the rain… just another day for the Dutch.  And then there’s Marijke’s neighbor… a grandpa who rides his bicycle over 20 km to work every day.

As I say farewell to the Netherlands, I prepare to return to Wettenbostel… leaving early Saturday morning. I am so grateful to have  a friendly welcoming place where I can return.  But for now I say Goodnight. Goodnight to the wind and the windmills.  The bicycle paths lined with cows and sheep.  The unexpected showers and expansive sky.  Goodnight!  Goodnight sweet Alkmaar!

Tags: , , ,

Gypsy of the Soul

5 Sep

It is a rainy Monday morning here in Alkmaar.  I am reminded it is the beginning of the work week as Marijke is off at her job. The weekend was filled with an out-of-town adventure… as well as some soul-searching…as I am leaving the Netherlands this week.  There was a balance of enjoying time in the Netherlands, in the now, and exploring the inquiry of what is next on the journey.

Saturday was a trip down memory lane for Marijke as we visited the town where she attended college, Nijmegen. A jewel of a town just kilometers from the German border, it is rich with history as well as culturally and architecturally stunning and fulfilling. Around 2000 years old, Nijmegen has architectural remains and artifacts dating back to Roman times.  But it strikes a balance of feeling rich and rooted in history and alive and vibrant in the now.  As we arrived crossing the River Waal, I learned from Marijke that during WWI, the Germans tried to invade at that river crossing the bridge.  The Dutch met the Germans midway and ultimately stopped them from invading any further.

I had a few hours to explore on my own while Marijke attended to her own plans, and the town invited me in.  I wandered the river until I found a cobblestone road, pulling me uphill to the center of town. I was greeted by a Saturday outdoor market as well as the sounds of drums filling the street as there was a Samba and Salsa festival that weekend.  I went where my feet took me… and found a fabulous Thrift Store!  And later to the park near the old water tower with locals speckled throughout the green lawn enjoying the beautiful summer day.   I sat in the sun and drank in the park, the grounded earthy feeling of its history and strength as well as its creative spirit.

Later that day I met with Marijke and her nephew and his girlfriend.  They live in the heart of Nijmegen and were proud to share their historical but independently spirited town.  With a university just outside of the center of town, it is brimming with liveliness.  We dined together at an Italian restaurant that had been there since the 1940s and then an evening stroll through the city and… more Samba and Salsa drifting into the night air.  We returned late and tired… ready for a good night sleep.

And Sunday… time for self. And a little reflection.  There is one thing I am coming to see…in this gypsy life of mine… Being a gypsy is not just about meandering, just wandering from one place to the next.  Seeing where the next opportunity lies.  It is also about learning, exploring and beginning to be a gypsy to my own soul.  Wandering in unknown territories.  Being open to explore something new within me.  Listening to the cry or even the whimper of my own being and what it needs… and in gypsy spirit… being willing to go there and explore.  Sometimes those places may look interesting and sexy.  Sometimes they may not.

Just days before leaving Marijke’s home in Alkmaar  I find myself feeling somewhat like the the illustration of the children in the poem Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.   In the image children are on the edge of a sidewalk floating in the sky… with a sign “the Edge” as the sidewalk crumbles off into nothingness.

I have been listening to those around me… and feeling the wandering and listlessness inside of me… I keep hearing from people around me words like intention and direction and questions like “what do you want?”… and still further  “it feels like you have no direction.” And wondering, curious where all of this fits in the world of flexibility, going with the flow and allowing things to unfold.  Looking for what it is that will ground me and seeking, exploring how to pay attention and see what it is I need and want… This passage seems to call for intimacy…. and not just an intimacy with others but an intimacy with the self.  Or at least a first date. A little coffee, willingness to say hello, spend some time and at least take a risk to offer something new, fresh, that is wanting to be nourished.

My time in the Netherlands has offered this to me… in has shown me what in my life needs attention. Like baby birds, beak open, screaming to be fed… and that being said, paying attention to where the hunger is… not just the need… but the desire and interest. I remember one time when reading The Artists Way by Julia Cameron, she offered a possible way as a roadmap to our inner artists…. notice the things that make you jealous.  This jealousy she says is something within you saying… I want that!  I want to play and to consider that aspect of self has somehow been… denied!  And explore even little ways to begin to offer yourself a piece of THAT!

There is still some time to be enjoyed here, rain allowing.  One more bicycle ride down the canal lined streets.  One more pass past the fields of cows and sheep.  And tonight… drum lessons!  Marijke is attending a class to learn jimbay and I will join her.  Yipee!  And later this week, we shall see…

Tags: , , ,

Freedom

31 Aug

Freedom. Ah, perhaps one of the most questioned topics….  Janis Joplin, spiritual texts.  But what is freedom… really?  I suppose it just depends on who you ask…

I have been in the Netherlands now for about two weeks, and I have to say it has grown on me.  It has a sweet and simple essence to it and it is a pleasure to be surrounded by bicycles, canals, cows, sheep and of course windmills as part of the daily landscape on any average day.  Time here the past few days has resumed a moderate pace.  Marijke returning to work.  Me mostly staying by the house except for a walk here, a bicycle ride there.

A few nights ago Marijke invited two friends over for a Reiki exchanged.  I witnessed the rhythm of the evening as it was explained to me before hand…  Coffee, tea and something to eat… (strawberry pie for the non-sugar eaters… everyone but me…), then upstairs for Reiki share (for non-Reiki people, simply this includes gathering around a Reiki/massage table and taking turns giving and receiving Reiki…), and then return downstairs for more socializing and more to drink… some wine perhaps… and more snacks too.  A different beat from our Reiki shares in the States, less formal… and generally no tea and snacks served…

Her guests and friends for Reiki were a friendly married couple and it was a fun “dutch” experience for me.  They mostly indulged my need to speak English and we talked and shared and laughed about what was true in the States, what is true in the Netherlands and in Europe.  Marijke almost fell off her chair laughing when she heard it was not uncommon in the States to sing the National Anthem at “important” events.  This just doesn’t compute to her dutch mind… it is even a little ridiculous…  And flag bearing and waving, well perhaps just a little less regarded here in Holland.  They do, they said, when they remember, fly the Dutch flag on the Queens birthday.  That’s sweet.

Nationalism, the topic turned, has a bit of a different flair here in Europe as well.  According to my intimate conversation with a select three Europeans, there is still a significant degree of sensitivity to ideas like nationalism since the impact of the Second World War.  It is fine to love one’s country… but perhaps there is a fear, a concern of taking that too far… An example was offered of being in Ireland where an Irish man started singing his national anthem with pride.  There was also a fellow there from Germany and when he was invited to sing his anthem, “Germany above all… above all in the world…” there was hesitation… even perhaps, disgrace.  It certainly puts a different context on history to be in the countries where the atrocities of WWII happened… something that over in the states we are mostly isolated from…

But alas, Europe and the States are not all that far apart in some ways.  American culture has leaked into European culture and you see it everywhere.  Sometimes with a chuckle.  And at times, a little disturbing… Just today I was walking around the nearby shopping area and heard Lionel Ritchie “Say you, Say me” being piped in through the overhead music.  And the neighbors have a dog named Neil… named after Neil Diamond.

As the pace here gets slower and Marijke’s work schedule gets busier… it seems it will shortly be time to leave the Netherlands.  Or at the very least depart from the generosity and comfort of Marijke’s home.  We discussed this briefly today.  It will soon be time to go.  And the idea of being some place else, some place new brought to me… well, excitement.  Cool… something new… what’s next?  Could this feeling be something like… Freedom?…

Ah, it’s the adventurer in me that often excited by the spirit of something new.  But I have to admit I am not always smooth in this transition.  I can recall times in the past when something has come to a close… being delighted by the feeling of the possibility of what is next… something new… and then stricken with anxiety wandering through the uncertainty of it.  Well, it’s a way perhaps… a way to waddle from point A to point B… meandering through the uncertainty.  But perhaps this time will be different… a gentle shift from what is now to what is next.  A new country perhaps?

Which brings us to the original theme when I first arrived here in the Netherlands to stay in Marijke’s home… that is “go where you want to go, do what you want to do… we are loving you!”  Freedom.

Tags: , , ,

Needing to be

29 Aug

I am sure many of you are familiar with the book and now movie Eat, Pray, Love.  In the real-life story a 30 something woman finds herself in transition… unglued, unlocked… and makes a choice to spend a year traveling.  3 months in Italy… Eat.  3 months in an ashram in India… Pray.  And 3 months in Bali… ultimately love.  Before I made the choice to embark on my journey in Europe, I remember an experience I had.  It was in the bathroom of the mostly empty home where I was house sitting in a suburb of New Orleans called Metairie.  In full transition form, I was living there lightly.  The house was empty and for sale. I had set up an inflatable mattress in the bedroom.  My friend and Reiki teacher, Elizabeth Ohmer Pellegrin, who was sharing the space for her Reiki practice had thankfully set up a futon and coffee table in the main room.  Ah, a little comfort of home in the sparseness of it all.  Things were coming to a close at the house and a transition ensued in my world.  The house was under contract, all of my personal belongings fit into a storage unit the size of a closet, and my 1996 Ford Taurus, which had given me 5 good years, was about to collapse.  What am I going to do?  I looked in the mirror in the bathroom… and what I heard was… Eat, Pray, Love…. I smiled a little to myself… taking some comfort in the possibility of a journey.  And that I might deserve to have such an adventure.  I was in need of one.

But where, for now, Ms. Gilbert and I depart ways was she had a plan… a framework for her journey… and at least,I think, an advance on the book she was writing.  And so it seemed, as I canceled my return flight to the states in June and rescheduled it for May of 2012… I was excited but also in a state of the unknown.  Unknown of where I would go and what I would do and unknown how I would finance my adventure…  Now I have some practice and power with this state of being living the mischievous life that I have led in New Orleans… and then of course post-Katrina.  A friend once told me that I am like a cat… I always land on my feet.  But jumping and leaping all of the time can get… exhausting.  It’s that word again… balance.  It seems, here in my state of flux I am craving it.

So I had a little walk today with Marijke, my friend and host in the Netherlands and she asked me… what is your wish?  What is you wish for your time in Europe?  And in a way, the conversation was a surprise for me.  I suppose I was thinking that in going with the flow I would have to surrender to the will of the way…  and in the way, no one asked me about my wish. That somehow I did not have a choice.   Hmmm, interesting question, I thought…  I have to admit, a few weeks into my visit in the Netherlands… I have a lack of focus and what seems to be a handful of possiblibilities for “what’s next” depending on this, depending on that… My “dependence on” has me hypnotized by my need… and less in the here and now.  But she offered, I could consider my wish… and have that as my intention.  For example, she offered, Ms. Gilbert and Eat, Pray, Love… the book that she happens to be currently reading… started out with an intention… of where she would be for each period of her journey.  She offered that as something to consider.  What is my intention?  What would I like this year to look like… with off course leaving room for flexibility and shifting and unexpected opportunities.  But a nice idea nonetheless!

And somewhere in this I find that I need room to be… where I am… and the idea of immediately moving here, then moving there… no maybe there… is a little unnerving.  What would I like?

I don’t know the answer to that question yet.  But I will spend some time chanting about it and sending Reiki.  How does one walk that path… of going with the flow, listening to and being guided by a higher wisdom… but still feeling and staying grounded along the way and being connected to our own wants and desires.  Hmmm… I have explored this road before.  But now, in Europe, in Alkmaar, the volume seems to be turned up a little higher.  It’s so nice to have someone who is kind enough to ask the questions… on a lovely stroll through the maze of paths near her home.

Tonight, friends of Marijke’s are coming to her home to join us for a little socializing and some Reiki.  And for me… it’s hard to just be with all these questions running through my head!  Alas, maybe I’ll start with exploring and asking… what do I want… what is my wish?  And explore the spirit of the intent for my journey.

Tags: , , , ,

Kermis

24 Aug

What is Kermis you ask?  Well it looks like a Carnival or fair… except it is in the Netherlands and they call it … you guessed it, Kermis!  City blocks filled with carnival rides, games, kids young and old.  I celebrated Kermis with Marijke and her family in a town about an hour and half south of Alkmaar. Kermis is an annual celebration and most towns and cities throughout the Netherlands celebrate it.  It’s a reason for families to get together.  Spend a little time, eat some food…and wander the streets of the Kermis. It reminded me of the carnivals we used to have as kids… our Catholic schools parking lots transformed to a place of spinning metal contraptions, cotton candy and funnel cake.  No funnel cake in Holland, but a very similar sweet fried dough with powdered sugar on it.  I suppose somethings are universal…

Meeting and spending time with Marijke’s family was really great.  Her family was a relaxed and easy group of people who felt like “down to earth dutch”.  Although at times I felt like an alien in the midst of dutch conversations, I was often comforted by a friendly comment, a smile or question in English.  They joked with me and laughed and said I wasn’t missing much in not understanding the conversation!

The Netherlands, as you know, is a really small country.  I was told it takes a maximum of 5 hours to cross by car… and that is from one far most tip to the other.  But Marijke and her family are clear to point out there are still differences amongst the dutch and the different regions of Holland. After driving just an hour and a half south, it was about 5 degrees warmer as there wasn’t the cool breeze creeping in from the North Sea.  And I learned from Marijke’s brother-in-law that the southern most part of Holland has its own dialect.  It is so distinct and different from typical dutch, that those in the North cannot understand it… written or spoken.  Amazing!

So the mission continues, this adventure in Europe.  I have to admit that sometimes it is a bit strange being here.  Sometimes I want to cling to some idea of what  my life was like, should have been like or will be like in the States.  And in the midst of my traveling, I am exploring… am seeking… and wanting ways to be… centered.  In me.  Not thrown off like being on some twisted Kermis ride… Balanced – no matter where I live.  Sometimes I feel like I have this… and… often… I don’t.

Marijke has been taking horse back riding lessons from a woman who lives near Alkmaar who is an expert with horses and a Reiki student of Marijke’s.  They know something about being centered!  The stable is called belckmeerhoeve… don’t know what that means…. and the owner and primary teacher is Marion. Her work with horses is very unique.  Marion is sensitive to and pays attention to the energies of the horses… and works with people in the same way.  Marion says that when riding a horse it is not person sitting on top of horse… but rather the rider and horse connected as one.  It is the practice of the rider to stay connected and centered while working with and connecting with the horse’s energy. This place of centered is called  “one point” or “ki” in the practice of Aikido.  From my years of reading tarot cards it also reminds me of the chariot card… as I learned to interpret it..the powerful woman or man who drives the chariot… being able to stay centered and grounded within their own being while chaos and powerful energies surround them… but staying calm and centered in the midst of it… staying focused and and still being able to direct things…not getting lost in it.

So I am noticing, paying attention to ways and tools that can help keep me stay… centered… and grounded in the here and now…. in Holland which is where I am now… but wherever in the world I am!  One of the challenges I have is “staying in my body”… when I get nervous and sometimes  simply being social and around people… something in me just leaves…hits the road… and physically I am still there but really…I am…not.    Frequently my mind is off running… Ideally, when a person is in “one point” or in their center they are not thrown off  so easily. Jolting outside events or even the perceived threat of one do not have the same impact when you are centered.  So the practice, the exploration for me is… staying centered and grounded… and being engaged in life and traveling in Europe!  Ah, the exploration!

In a talk with Marijke, who in addition to being a Reiki Master is a therapist, she suggested that perhaps it is a thought in my head that is throwing me off my center.  She said likely it happens so quickly that I don’t even notice it, almost unconscious.  She encouraged me to “pay attention” to what I might be saying to myself that is perhaps a precursor to losing that center… that connectedness within me and connection to the people and world around me.

I am really impressed and interested in the work Marion and her team are doing with people and horses.  In addition to teaching riding lessons, she also offers what she calls equine therapy.  As she explained, the energy of the horses is such that it easily connects people with their feelings…  Often as a defense mechanism we (me…) may get lost in our thoughts as a way to avoid simply being with a challenging feeling or emotion.  But working with the horses give direct access to that which must be experienced and expressed to begin to… heal.   Marion says it’s not so easy to keep avoiding things when working with horses in therapy.

And last night… Marijke invited her neighbors over for dinner.  And guess what?  I am doing the cooking.  The is part of the trade that we worked out.  I cook in exchange for staying at her house.  It’s kind of funny for me to be doing the cooking considering the notion and experience I have of myself in the kitchen…(see previous entry on domesticity!).  But often, many times cooking is really…nice.  It feels… well, centering… and grounding…to take my time and chop vegetables and cook food.  Simple food.  And it’s appreciated, which is nice.  And it tastes pretty good!  The little time I spent in Wettensbostel in the kitchen did open up the space for a some fun and creativity…  I can feel a bit of excitement in throwing a few seasonings or ingredients together… sampling how they taste and adjusting as needed.  It actually feels sort of like … freedom.  Who knew I could find …. freedom… in the kitchen…

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →