Stepping into Adventure

Without a plan, I booked a 39 day trip to Scandinavia, just for the adventure of it. I was inspired when a woman from Norway, that I had met when I was taking a course on Divine Feminine via zoom, issued an invitation. During one of our sessions, Monica said she wished we could all be sitting around a table dining and drinking and in conversation face-to-face. I thought, Why not? I can't make it happen for everyone but I could venture out on my own. I sandwiched the trip in between my grandchild's 7th birthday celebration at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, [August 1st] a Lorn Huron and First Aid Kit concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I had tickets for [August 12] and my great nephew's wedding which is scheduled for September 25, on the farm where I spent my childhood.

My only goal is to visit a few of these totally amazing and deeply precious women from my Taking the Inner Seat course and to allow the adventure to unfold. Rather than plan a detailed itinerary, I notified the three women I wanted to meet face to face of the dates I would be there then trusted the process that whatever I am ready to discover will present itself. My primary preparations will be mental. I have declared and internalized my mission of leading men and women from around the world, to age with adventure and an open heart. It seems that the best way to do that is to step out into it myself. A dear friend of mine, Denny Kelly, suggested I keep it simple. That sounded like perfect advise!

I remember another dear friend who shared with me, at age 81, that she believed her life was magical because she didn't set her sails on any particular destination. Instead she trusted her boat to drift from one adventure to another. That woman, Jo Barnes Watson, contributed much ministry to the Des Moines area as an ordained minister, an active farm wife, a world traveler, a collector of nativity scenes, black madonnas, Noah's arks, and family heritage. My favorite memory of Jo was her eager YES , always up for anything! Open minded, deep thinking, and connected to her heart, she was at ease with everyone she met. It was Jo who introduced me to my dear friend Koko. Jo said to me, "You think I am lively, you need to meet my travel companion, Koko. She runs circles around me." At Jo's funeral they said about her, "for all she accomplished, she always put people first." That is the central theme of my pending travels.

Denny reminded me that we bring with us, from our years working in the corporate world, habits of comparison, striving, goal setting, pushing ourselves to excel and demands on ourselves to perform. That time is over. It's time for us to relax, enjoy and adopt new ways of being. Collaboration, cooperation, unfolding and openhearted adventures will help us usher in new ways of being which will help soften the experience of living for all of us.

Therefore, I am three months from flying to Oslo, Norway and I am perfectly comfortable with no set agenda, no specific plans and very little knowledge of what is in store for me. I have studied enough to know that both Norway and Sweden have Right to Roam laws that allow free roaming, an invitation to seeing what unfolds. Their respect and admiration for nature sounds beautiful to me. I am trusting the adventure. You are welcome to follow along as I blog my discoveries which I anticipate will be a wide range of natural - meeting people and seeing an abundance of nature - emotional, spiritual and physical - I plan to stay healthy!