Freedom is Calling - Page 22 of 25 - Blog about following the call of freedom

The Journey is the Reward

EW February 4, 2024

In his book “Daodejing” Laotse writes something like “The way is the goal”. Sounds odd in a goal-driven society. And I don’t know if I’d 100 percent subscribe to that. However, I admit it holds some truth – maybe a lot of truth as I think of it. Nevertheless, I also value reaching the goal, the destination.

Maybe I'm a bit odd

For example: going up a montain in a cable car and have a look around, I sure enjoy the panoramic view. It stays, however, superficial. It does not reach the core of my being. On the other hand, if I hiked up the steep slopes and reached the top, the view then takes my breath away (almost literally!). The emotions run so much deeper.

So, having it easy makes my emotions kind of flat while working sometimes hard to reach my goal deepens my feelings and gives me great pleasure. Working at it makes it part of my very being. So, that’s Big Paul, my project to work on for a purpose.

Purpose is so important

Without purpose, dreams fade away into a gray fog of nothingness. Getting a ready-made camper is just not the thing for me. It lacks my personal imprint, it’s so “finished”. Kind of like going up a montain with a cable car. I want to create something of my own.

Faded old glory?

And yes. There are also memories coming up while working on Big Paul. More than 45 years ago I did a similar thing with some friends. We bought a rundown VW-Bus and turned it into a camper van. We named her “Susi” and traveled across North Africa together. What a great time and great experiences we had! This left impressions, I’ll never forget: the car broke down on a desert road, we were invited to an evening feast by a local farmer serving couscous and chicken, sweet mint tea and prickly pears as dessert. Just to name a few. Ahh! Those precious moments.

Especially the feast will stick with me forever. When the farmer invited us, he assumed we had a woman in our company. So, they planned accordingly. When we arrived, he recognized we were three men and no woman. No big deal, you may think. Wrong! According to local tradition, wives and girls are allowed to a feast only, if the guest brings female company. What a trouble this misunderstanding caused! The women had to stay in a separate room somewhere in the house – we did not see a trace of them. Now men amongst men, they received us with an amazing, warmhearted hospitality. After the host washed our hands he dished out the food with his bare hands. When we finished the meal, he addressed us: “We have shared this meal together, now we will be friends forever”. That phrase touched our deepest souls and I still carry it with me.

We did not notice first that once we were served a dish it was taken off the table and carried out of the room. We learned later that it was brought to the hidden women. It appeared to us Europeans that the women were served our leftover food. We pitied them. But then, we did not know their traditions and how they felt about it. We noticed some kind of strategy. Though the women appeared to be banned from socializing the host watched out that there was plenty of food left for all of them. They might have had a great time amongst themselves. I’ll never know.

Traveling the back roads back then always led to interesting encounters with locals.

Can we do it again?

And now, we are on the verge of creating new adventures. This time, I’m not building a furnished camper van. Mostly for German licencing issues, I want to keep Big Paul registered as a delivery van. So, everything I need for living in the car has to be removable, payload in a manner of speaking. But that building project lies in the future. Right now I address quite mundane tasks like cleaning the car – and enjoying every minute of it.

I made a short video clip of me happily cleaning. You can watch it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMavkTh63rQ

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

Magic Beginnings

GEF February 4, 2024

My partner has seriously fallen in love. It was forseeable.

Big Paul is a fascinating creature. Fuels imagination, where in the world to go and what to see and to do. Just spontaneously, without much planning ahead.

Looks like Paul is doing its job reliably now. The motor is purring like a cat, my partner says. Actually, he would love to drive all day, just for the fun of it.

Now the slogan „Joy of Driving“ becomes a tangible reality.

Having one million minutes for the beautiful things

A new movie that has just started in German cinemas spurs this idea even more. It’s title: „One Million Minutes“.

It’s about the true story of a little girl that had a dream and one day told her parents about it:
„I wish we had a million minutes – only for the real beautiful things.“

That’s a lot of time, 694 days to be exact. And her parents made her dream come true.
They decided to take on the challenge, quit their jobs, sold everything, took their kids and got on the road.

Back after two years, the father wrote a book about their adventure that had taken them to so many great places and valuable experiences.
Then a film director became interested in the story and the rest is history.

Rising energy

What is so fascinating about undertakings like that?

The other day, I watched the moon over the mountains shining in the dawn. A new day coming, the energy rising. It felt like a promise.

It has become obvious. Winter has started to loosen its grip. The snowline is retreating. More daylight, higher temperatures, little birds chirping in the trees.

And in a sheltered spot unter a large bush, I could see the first snowdrops opening up.

It won’t be long before we can start working on the new setup of Paul’s loading space.
Insulation will be the first task. Taking care of the little rusty bits will come later.

If you can feel the rising energy and you just follow it, it’s the best time of the year to embark on a new journey.

We had an interesting discussion on that topic the other day, and we both agreed, we love beginnings. New projects attract the two of us much more than anything completed or perfect.

It’s like Herman Hesse put it in a famous poem:

„Jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zauber inne …“ – every new beginning has a certain magic to it.

Opening up a new horizon. Letting imagination and creativity flow.

Memories

We remember our hard working days back in the States when we renovated the house.
My partner was living on the plot in a secondary little house and carried most of the burden himself. I was living in Germany and came over, whenever I had the time.

Actually, the „house project“ was more of a re-construction and re-building than a renovation. Sometimes it felt overwhelming as if it was a never ending story. More than once we thought we had hit rock bottom. Just to learn that we were opening up new aggravating cans of worms the more old layers we removed.

But at a certain point in time, when it became completely nerve-wrecking, we suddenly could see progress. And more progress. This kept us motivated.

Chomping on the bit

When the house was finished, of course it was quite a source of pride.
But funny enough, very soon the enchantment faded away. It was done. Over. Out.

Even now, when we look at the old photos, we cherish the memory. But those days are gone and we are chomping on the bit, so to speak, to start something new.
Something much less overwhelming this time, but still a little challenging.

The two of us just don’t feel happy caring for or administering things that are „done and dusted“, as the British call it.

Getting prepared

In soccer, they say: After the match is before the match.
Sorry for the „Genglish“
That reminds me that – hey – I need clothes.

I’ll go shopping.
In my storage room.
Surely there must be some old, worn-out jeans and sweaters somewhere that I can use for the dirty work.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

Memories are made of this …

GEF February 1, 2024

I admit I get a little homesick. One of our readers sent such a nice and warm-hearted comment, saying „Do you remember…“

Yes, we do.

My partner lived in the States for 20 years. This made me a commuter across the Atlantic several times a year.

Actually, for all those years I considered the States my second home. And I enjoyed it so much.

Only yesterday, I looked at a collection of old photos we took back then. All the wonderful gatherings with friends. All our trips to gorgeous places.

Every season had its highlights. The Indian summer on the East Coast being the most spectacular one with the „flaming foliage“.

We loved to hike in the Appalachian Mountains. The majesty, serenity and stillness of these billion year old rocks were such a delight.

Whenever we wanted to escape the noise and hectic of the world, we hiked up Hawksbill Mountain. We could just sit there, letting our gaze wander, observe crows playing and falcons soaring, listening to nothing but the wind. Being just calm and fully at ease.

Another favorite hike was up the White Oak Canyon with its idyllic streams and waterfalls.

One permanent memory that I always carry is a dark blue pendant, a Lapis Lazuli in a silver frame. One of our American friends made it and my partner gave it to me as a birthday present.

In energy medicine, this stone has a special meaning.

In ancient times it was very rare and represented royalty.
So, wearing it helps you create your own little kingdom/queendom from your heart.

Just beautiful!

That’s it for now. More to come.

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Patchwork

EW January 28, 2024

After last week’s winter storm, we got some pretty mild weather. Unfortunately, it came with a lot of rain that watered out my plans for “Big Paul”. Nevertheless, there where some dry periods. Can’t rain forever. Though, some areas got something close to a Noachian flood. Anyway, there was time between the showers to do some patching and some cleaning.

Funny enough, rips and tears really pull down the overall appearance and make a very bad impression. So, I started patching things up.

Well, I could not get the right color, but what a difference it makes anyway!

Now, the old car reminds me very much of my old body

It’s almost a metaphor: Wear and tear takes its toll and sure enough I find myself patching up a lot of things. Unlike my car, I do not have the choice “to buy new” and replace the object of nuisance.

Well, it may seem that medicine is getting pretty close to it, like tooth implants, organ transplants – you name it. Luckily, I don’t need that heavy type of replacements.

However, we may as well face it: our bodies are slowly deteriorating. The only thing we can do is to take good care of what is still working fine and slow down the process of aging.

I am curious. What is it you are doing to keep you healthy?

That’s it for now. More to come.

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