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!
