Freedom is Calling - Page 21 of 25 - Blog about following the call of freedom

I’d rather go fishing

EW February 18, 2024

Actually, I don’t fish. However, I enjoy sitting at a quiet lake or stream, watching the clouds drift by, listening to the birds. It’s definitely better than last week’s carnival mania …

Carnival nowadays is far too noisy and too crowded for me. There were times when we dressed up, watched the parade and had a party afterwards. Alas, these folks I partied with are now as gray-haired as myself and prefer tranquility.

So, besides some troubles with my website that I had to fix, there was plenty of time to get ready for my trip south. And this time, it was not just packing my personal things, I also had to prepare and organize for some changes on Big Paul to be implemented soon.

That’s it for now. More to come.

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Are you a Why-not-er or rather a Yes-but-er?

GEF February 18, 2024

OMG – 3 hours on Zoom! How inspiring! How much fun!

It was a get together after 20 years. Back then, the lady I had the pleasure to chat with last week was one of my students. Now she has a grown up son and is a happy, striving solopreneur doing the work she really loves.

So much to talk about when you look back at what has developed over such a long period of time. A lot of accomplishments, a lot of life. And a lot of new ideas and suggestions what to get going in the future.

What I found remarkable was that we agreed we both – although best agers (what a funny expression!) – were not up for retirement.

Once in a while, I hear people say they get more anxious and want more safety and convenience the older they become.

We looked at life in a different way. We still wanted to experience what life had to offer and wanted to work as long as possible.

She said: „What would I do as retiree? Sitting on the sofa, reading novels? How boring!“

What's your ratio?

Well, I think it’s good to be a “why-not-er” and not a “yes-but-er”.

That’s a paraphrase one of my teachers used to describe people who look for opportunities and take a risk, compared to those who tell themselves all the time what could go wrong, if … The latter give up before they start.

When I was young, I had a lot of reservations, although I had again and again proved to myself I could manage challenges and find solutions. I had a tendency to play it safe.

Only when I turned my life around and follwed my heart, I found out that the first spiritual teacher I had listened to in my Twenties was right with his assumptions:

Even statistics prove that 97 percent of all your fears never happen.
That’s a very favorable ratio, right?!

And I think, older age should not stop you from living what your heart tells you to.

Lifestyle counts

There is this report on a famous village in Japan, where people become really old and stay very healthy at the same time. International scientists keep on studying how they do it and why they make such a difference to other places in the world.

So, what do they do? They eat light, freshly cooked meals (no processed food), they have a good social life, they take it easy. And they keep working and contributing, even when they are close to 90 years of age. They do what they can do, and if it takes more time or they need more breaks – so what!

New research says, staying healthy during old age has more to do with your lifestyle than your genetics.
This puts you on the driver seat – which is good news in itself.

So – I do my best to take care of my body and listen to its needs, so I can enjoy many more years of activity.

Getting back to my huge bowl of fresh mixed salad now …

That’s it for now. More to come.

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Jack of all Trades

EW February 11, 2024

The full phrase is: “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” The idiom was used by Robert Greene in his 1592 booklet “Greene’s Groats-Worth of Wit” where he refers to William Shakespeare with this idiom. It was a compliment.

Sometimes, the outcome of a new trade has not the quality intended

Let’s start from the beginning. As introverts me and my partner favor privacy more than anything else. So, the idea of sleeping and living in a car that readily allows a good view into its inside is quite appalling. Imagine people pressing their faces against the window to get a better peek. I had that happening before. Granted they do it out of curiosity and not for some other unfathomable motive. Anyway, it’s horrible to us!

The first thought was to put up curtains. We might do that eventually, but I want to discourage people from the beginning to take a closer look. One solution jumped right out of various options: to attach tint film to the windows.

Well, I never did this kind of work before. So, I got on the internet and started researching.

To do flat windows as at the side of the car seemed kind of easy. And it was. The work turned out really professional looking. And as expected, the tinted window allowed amost no view inside. It made a huge difference compared to before. In the left picture below you can see the yellow frame of the back door right through the window. With tint film in the right picture the frame is barely visible. You see mostly the reflection of the old house in the alleyway I had to retreat to because of wind. And wind isn’t in the least helpful when working with thin sheets of film.

In the end Five up! Goal achieved! I’m quite happy with the result.

The real challenge was the curved pane of the back window

At the back window, the tint film had to be fitted to the curvature of the glass with the aid of a hot air gun. Here, craft turned into artwork: too much heat burns holes, not enough heat warps the film. Moreover, I found two methods to coat the glass for this proceedure. The first method uses talcum the second method uses a thin layer of soap. I chose the talcum method – and what a nerve wrecking mess it was!

Anyway, I guess I finished the project on some sort of an apprentice’s level. I got kind of a mixed result.

The main goal was achieved: People can’t peep inside the car anymore. True. However, whitish bubbles appear in the window when looking from the outside that I couldn’t squeeze out. That added some disappointment.

Now I’m kind of pondering: shall I remove the tint film and redo it? Upon repetition, I might get better in this trade. However, I ask myself if I will really get a more satisfying result next time.

Or shall I just leave it as it is? Like good enough.

What do you think I should do?

Am I too much of a German with this question …

That’s it for now. More to come.

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Serengeti and the deep Stuff

GEF February 11, 2024

This blog is about freedom. And freedom means so many different things for different people.

On my own personal list of values, freedom is second to none. But that’s not true for everybody.

A famous quote comes to my mind:
„Life is what happens to you while you are making other plans“, John Lennon once said.

Did he feel like a cork on the water? I think he meant it in a different way.
Being well known for his irony and sarcasm, John must have said this with a wink in his eye.

The „reality“ of this planet is happening to everybody. Just check the news.
The question is – how do we handle it.

Do we feel like a victim of circumstance or do we want to act on it? Are we looking for alternatives and then get going?

If you are like me and freedom is your strongest driver, you will probably prefer an independent and self-directed lifestyle over everything else.

But of course, this has a price. And you are very aware of it.

How real is the box?

A very nice and well-meaning lady sent us an email complimenting us on our adventure with Big Paul, wishing for us that all our dreams would become real.

And then adding that some people were looking for freedom only to end up in another dog kennel.

I felt very sad when I heard that. It’s true, we all are creatures of habit. No matter if these habits are helpful or rather blocking.

Maybe we are afraid to take the emotional and material rollercoaster ride that a substantial change will bring.
I know from my own experience (as I wrote in my first blog post).

Sometimes it is a slow process to transform one’s life, because our protective and energy saving inner system is very hard to convince of something new.

No matter how you do it – it takes courage. And this means: Feeling the fear and inner resistance and doing it anyway.
This is the price you have to pay. No way to avoid it.

The role model effect

Sometimes a friend tells me that I was a role model for taking the jump and change my life in my middle years.

Feels good to hear but brings up another thought.

Actually, I do not want anyone to copy my life.

Looking back at several decades now, I just did it my way. For me, it was exactly the right thing to do. But it is not necessarily the right way for everybody else.

Different strokes for different folks

There is the friend who has kids and a beautiful home and finds her delight and fulfillment in her family. There is another friend who knew from scratch she wanted to be a physician and has always loved her profession and her work in the hospital no matter how stressful.

Are these people fed up sometimes? Do they want to get away from it?

Of course, they do. But this is just a signal that they need a break.

Once they have recharged their batteries they keep going. Because they live a life according to their values.
So – why should these people take a leap?!

The Serengeti enchantment

My life has been a little different. I was the one who came in blank and embarked on an odyssey. What was in it for me?

I was in my first or second school year when all of a sudden something came along that resonated with my deepest core.

It all began in a movie seat.

My parents took me to the huge blockbuster cinema in my home town.

Back then, we didn’t have a TV at home. And an afternoon or evening out with my parents usually meant either seeing friends and family or theater and opera.

So, this was an extraordinary event.

The film they had found meaningful, instructive and at the same time harmless enough for a young kid to see was „Serengeti shall not die“.

It was a spectacular film about the wildlife in Africa and the desire of some German zoologists to save the animals and turn the savanna between Kenya and Tanganyika into a National Park. The film had just won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Wow - was I flashed!

I was at the edge of my seat. I knew – this was it!

How I loved the scenery. How I envied these guys who lived in tents and log cabins in the wilderness.

They maneuvered little zebra-striped Cessna planes over herds of thousands and thousands of gnus and antelopes. They drove old hard-boiled jeeps where there was no road, just mud and dirt. They caught and marked and released all sorts of animals they wanted to study. They faced lions, elephants and cobras.

And – they just passionately followed their mission and never had to dress up or behave or keep quiet!

What a thrilling contrast to my well-sorted, regulated, protected life.

Later, my parents did their very best to talk me out of the enthusiastic idea to become a free roaming wildlife veterinarian one day and just get lost in some desert or steppe.

Eventually, they must have done a real good job, because over the years I kind of forgot about it.

Checking off the bucket list wasn't enough

As grown-up I went travelling a lot to satisfy my eagerness to experience exotic places and different cultures. I surrounded myself with dogs, cats and horses to enjoy their natural, spontaneous, undisguised energy.

But my daily life was organized by a solid career, tightly scheduled, city-based and very predictable.

Only in my middle years I realized that there was something essential missing:

The pleasure of stepping on natural soil, feeling the pulse of the earth underneath me. The anticipation of opening up a new horizon. The thrill of turning round a corner and discovering something I had never seen before.
The wonderful idea that the future was unforseeable and every day could change everything and reveal something unexpected and inspiring.

After all, having all the time in the world for the deep stuff that really mattered to me.

I could do all of this – but only in my free time. Which was a scarecity.

It took courage to quit my career and open up to life itself. Going my own sweet way. Not making it happen, but letting it happen.

Looking back today, I can say, it was the best decision ever. Because the more I trusted my heart and the universe, the more things fell into place.

Yes, she can!

The other day I had a wonderful gathering with friends, and one lady said to me:

„Your life’s story has inspired me so much. I have decided to take a sabbatical and afterwards I will retire early. I have had enough of working for someone else and I look forward to my new life – just belonging to myself.“

That’s a great decision and I go along with this. Because she does not just copy something, but takes it from her own deepest truth. So, she will be able to unfold her true self. In all its beauty.

She will do great, I know!

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and