More Stories from Peru

What a journey I have been on. I must admit, I´m pretty good at travel. Today I arrived in Arequipa, after a six hour and at least eighty degree bus ride, not knowing a soul. It was a little daunting to arrive in this big city, I´m not a fan of city, but I got myself checked into a nice hostel and got to making plans. Tomorrow I leave the city (yay!) and will spend a couple of days in the Colca Canyon area, doing some hiking camping, visiting volcanoes and will likely see some condors.

There have been several times on this trip, when I come back to my center, that I am struck by the simplicity of my life. Daily I connect with Mother Earth, my Self, children, love, new friends. I am so blessed. Nancy asked me before she left how I would describe my experiences here to my loved ones back home. I do not know. There are stories of places I´ve visited, people I´ve met, experience I´ve had but how does one put into words the energy of these places?

I spent a couple of days on Lake Titicaca. Another powerful place. It sits at 12,500 ft, the highest navicable lake in the world and the largest lake in South America. I visited a few islands, including a floating island and spent the night on Amanti Island with a beautiful family. On the way back to Puno yesterday I felt called to through my ring in the lake, the simple ring I mentioned in an earlier blog, I gave to Madre Titicaca. I think I knew it would stay in Peru, and it felt good to watch it create a splash. A friend of mine had one piece of advice before I left Utah. "Do me a favor", he had said. "Lose yourself there". I don´t think he meant physically although that has happened from time to time. I have not lost my Self here but there is a part of me that I have let go of. Pepe said to me after a night of ceremony, "You don´t have to hold on to everything, just let go." In this way, I suppose I have lost myself. And in letting go of a ring I bought to replace my wedding ring, as if I still needed someone or something, I lost that part of myself that exists in that need.

This simplicity does not mean I want for nothing. I would love to keep traveling to Argentina, Boliva, the world! I would love to have a partner to share in this magic with. I would love to someday have a child and I would love to bring my unique gifts to the world through my vocation. But I am also trusting that mystery knows what my soul needs and all the rest will work itself out.

I met another solo traveler tonight, which is rare. He was excited to hear about the experiences I've  had and was asking me about his own. I am vowing to continue to be open to meeting new people and sharing in my experiences when I get back to the states. It´s so easy to be outgoing and friendly in a different country there is not reason it should be different in the U.S. After all, we are all connected.
 

Home Wherever I Go

I arrived in Peru 22 days ago and in a way it feels as though I've always been here. That's how life has changed since I've become very present. All other time and space falls easily away. There is only the gift of now and letting go of other days. Release.

Today I was walking down Ave Del Sol with a friend of mine and I actually saw someone I know from around town. After we exchanged greetings I looked at the friend I was walking with and we both busted up laughing. "I know someone!" I exclaimed and I think we were both proud. The cute woman at the hostel I currently call home is always concerned with whether or not I eat breakfast. The sweet waiter at the coffeeshop which I'm apparently a regular at friended me on Facebook. And, I know at least four ways to get to Qori Nusta Inn when it took me over an hour to find my way back the first night.

Now, just as this place an I have began to call each other home, I will leave in a day or two. Even so, I'll take with me a swagger in my step, sending my best wishes to the young English student that helped me with my Espanol. -Reciprocity.

I was fortunate enough to spend the afternoon at an absolutely breathtaking hotel, Sol y Luna, in Urabamba. (Something I'm not quick to admit, hotels are kind of my thing.) The villas, the view, the vista, the restaurant, the horses, and Oh my God, the gardens! To top it off, I had the company of four beautiful, charismatic, intelligent, quirky, Peruvian characters. Although I only understood maybe 8% of what was said, the fact that I belonged to there with this group of incredibles was not lost on me.

As we began to sip our post lunch coffee, the clouds that had quickly rolled into the Sacred Valley broke open and with the rain came a flood of emotion. Tears told a story of how for nearly thirty years a girl, a woman, never new that she was worth everything she ever dreamed of. In letting go of that belief I cried, knowing that every beginning requires a death of sorts.

Be Earth Now

Yes, it feels good to be here and my senses could not be happier :) I have visited so many sacred places with incredible energy. I've been through huge shifts and it's been crazy to see the events of the past to come together, especially during a four day intensive with Theo and Pepe. The last night of the intensive was especially powerful. I was able to turn towards something that I had buried deep inside of myself and in turning towards this I was able to let go and experience love greater that i could ever imagine. I feel back inside my Self with a clear head and grateful heart. Grateful to have paid attention to my link to Peru, the vision quest and so much more, not knowing why but trusting what I could not see. My heart is full, my stance is strong and I feel my Self moving into the next phase of life with strength, beauty and knowing. I have re-membered.

Some of you may be more interested in what I've seen here although to me this trip is more about feeling and experiences. Some of the highlights have been Cachora and three children that I absolutely fell in love with, along with the land there. I've been to Machu Picchu, Pisaq, Ollantaytambo and Moray. I visited the sacred mountain Ausungate and witnessed the most beautiful Dispacho (prayer to the Earth). I've discharged and recharged through sacred Apus and rocks. I've lived, loved and laughed with new friends and old.

Some asked when I left the states if I thought I was coming back. Yes, I will return, but different somehow. No, not different, but the person that I've been hiding from. The person I was meant to be. When i think back on my journey, I'm reminded of a few lines in a poem by Rilke: You are not surprised at the force of the storm, you have seen it growing. It wants to sink back into the source of everything. Be Earth now and evensong.


Onto a Vast Plain
Rainer Maria Rilke

You are not surprised at the force of the storm—
you have seen it growing.
The trees flee. Their flight
sets the boulevards streaming. And you know:
he whom they flee is the one
you move toward. All your senses
sing him, as you stand at the window.

The weeks stood still in summer.
The trees' blood rose. Now you feel
it wants to sink back
into the source of everything. You thought
you could trust that power
when you plucked the fruit:
now it becomes a riddle again 
and you again a stranger.

Summer was like your house: you knew
where each thing stood.
Now you must go out into your heart
as onto a vast plain. Now
the immense loneliness begins.

The days go numb, the wind
sucks the world from your senses like withered leaves.

Through the empty branches the sky remains.
It is what you have.
Be earth now, and evensong.
Be the ground lying under that sky.
Be modest now, like a thing
ripened until it is real,
so that he who began it all
can feel you when he reaches for you.