Tag Archives: travel

Dreams Out of Africa

I watched Out of Africa again yesterday. Love that story, perhaps because it is based on the real-life memoir by Isak Dinesen (the pen name of Danish author Karen Blixen). Africa was her great adventure. I remember a long time ago, a high school teacher asked our class if we could travel anywhere, where would it be? Some of my classmates wanted to go to the next town, the next province, the country next door. I put my hand up and said, “Africa”.

Pregnant pause; the teacher looked at me like I was from Mars. I guess I dreamed bigger than most, because I read voraciously as a child and teenager, and books were seeding big dreams in me.

Fast forward to now, and I have traveled and lived in various parts of the world. But, I have yet to see Africa. It’s important to keep one dream unspent for a while, I think. It gives one something to aim for. 🙂

Some day I hope Africa and I will learn a song of each other:

“If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me? Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had on, or the children invent a game in which my name is, or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me, or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?” ~ Isak Dinesen

Of course, watching the movie this time was tinged with a some sadness with the death of Robert Redford just 4 days ago. The character he played in Out of Africa, Deny Finch Hatton – Karen Blixen’s love – was killed in a plane crash before she left Africa. Denys was buried in the Ngong Hills. Later when back in Denmark, Karen wrote this about some correspondence she received about his grave site:

“‘The Masai have reported to the District Commissioner at Ngong, that many times, at sunrise and sunset, they have seen lions on Finch Hatton’s grave in the the Hills. A lion and lioness have come there, and stood, or lain, on the grave for a long time…After you went away, the ground round the grave was leveled out, into a sort of big terrace. I suppose that the level place makes a good site for the lions, from there they can have a view over the plain, the cattle and game on it.’

Denys will like that. I must remember to tell him.”

Legend of the Rainbow Warriors

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The Māori of New Zealand pay homage to many ancient legends and stories that explain their beginnings, their ancestors, their deep connection with Papatūānuku (Mother Earth), and their relationship with Io-Matua-Kore, God-the-Parentless, the supreme spiritual power.

The Three Baskets of Knowledge is the story of Tāne, the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Ranginui and Papatūanuku, the sky father and the earth mother. Tāne was called to make the journey and ascend through the many realms to the uppermost realm, occupied only by Io-Matua-Kore, in order to obtain the three baskets of knowledge (of upper realms, the rainbow, and spiritual powers) and bring them back to Earth for the benefit of all humankind.

The rainbow as a bridge between realms, and as a sign of hope and inspiration for the world, is found in countless legends and stories of the indigenous cultures. Many believe that under the symbol of the rainbow, humanity will come into balance with one another and the Earth to experience the Golden Age.

There is an ancient theme that runs through many American Native legends that warns of the devastation the European white man would bring to the land. However, the myths also promise that when the devastation was at its worst, spiritually aligned souls among peoples of all colors, peoples of the rainbow, would feel a calling of spirit and come together to bring life back into proper balance.

These souls, who would do no violence and would work to end violence, would be called the Rainbow Warriors. The time of the Rainbow Warriors has come.

“When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear; when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them.” ~ Chief Seattle (Seathl), Du-wamish-Suquamish, 1785-1866

This post is excerpted from Our Beautiful Earth. A free PDF version is available when you subscribe here for occasional author newsletters. The full PDF version with more of my personal art (same text), with a bonus EPUB format is available for $2.99 here.

Thank you for reading! 🙂

Pioneer

Our Essence is Freedom

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There was a time in Hawaii – I will never forget it – when the ocean spoke to me of freedom. A storm was blowing in from Japan, and word in the community was that within a couple of days the surfing would be stellar. That same night, my partner and I awoke at midnight to the thunderous sound of pounding waves. We headed out immediately to check it out at Makena Beach (also known as Big Beach) somewhat nearby.

This was one of the calmer beaches, not a surfer hangout. The waves were already spectacular! There were no man-made lights, save for several small dots twinkling way off in the far distance. When we arrived, the scene that lay before us took my breath away. Makena beach and the water were lit brilliantly by a magnificent full moon. Light clouds flitted in and out in the strong breeze. The rolling huge waves frothed white in the blazing moonlight, crashing wildly on the shore.

We took our shoes off and walked. The beauty and power of the scene were intoxicating, and my soul was unleashed in a way I had never experienced before.

I felt what it means to be just a human being on the Earth, and the inherent freedom of my soul. For just a little while, the pulse of nature ran through me like a jolt of electricity. I felt the wildness and joy of my essence. I was completely alive, and I did not want that feeling to end.

The wild, untamed places discovered in my travels without fail have this affect; they speak to my soul. And I have come to understand this: Our essence is freedom, and we must never let that go.

A brief quote about freedom from Shawshank Redemption:

“Sometimes it makes me sad, though… Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright.

Too many people don’t realize that their feathers are too bright to be caged. When that changes, the world also will change. It’s time to claim your bright feathers, if you have not done so already.

This is a repost from Sept. 2022 in response to “Danger and Wonder at Peggy’s Cove”, a recent post by my good friend Alegria at Life With Alegria. Her expression of intoxication surrounding her Atlantic Ocean experience reminded me so much of my own experience on a Hawaiian beach (with another ocean) many years ago. I highly recommend that you check out Alegria’s blog, where she explores the many facets of finding your joy in life.

My novelette The Turquoise Heart is currently being offered as a free download. Help yourself to a copy today.

Travel to Find You

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The world is a mirror, and travel has this way of peeling back our hidden layers. It makes a lie out of some of the stories we’ve been telling ourselves, and it shines a light on good parts as yet undiscovered. It challenges, grows, expands and inspires us in ways that we never expected. We lose ourselves, and we find ourselves.

And then beyond the idea of world travel in this 3rd dimensional Earth existence, what if our souls really are trans-dimensional? And what if we live many lives, working out our lessons and perfecting our energy?

Perhaps we would live life in a completely different way, not so tied down to the ideas of money, success, material possessions. Perhaps life here would be about a completely different experience.

I believe we are moving towards that, we just need to let go of some old ideas…

Inspirational Travel Quotes:

“Not all those who wander are lost.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” ~ St. Augustine

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” ~ Anita Desai

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.” ~ Wallace Stevens

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” ~ Mark Twain

“We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost.” ~ Ray Bradbury

“Travel brings power and love back into your life.” ~ Ruminator

The Trip

We arrive
with no luggage
and leave with
none too,
so why do we
spend a lifetime
accumulating
mere things?

To prop up
our egos,
and relieve
our boredom,
to salve our
hurts, and
impress the
neighbors.

Within the
glorious potential
of the soul’s
quest, we lay
waste to what
could have been
for the next
new toy.

The kids
fight over the
treasures
left behind
by their parents,
thinking that the
having is some
kind of victory.

But the wounds
inflicted in the
fight for more
are baggage of
a different kind,
ones that can
cross over if we
don’t take care.

Traveling light
and loving well
are the real
accomplishments,
and as big as
they are, they
pack small
for the leaving.

Escape

Perhaps it’s just my lens because I’m a traveler at heart, but I think some of the best stories are rooted in travel. Of course, one person’s travel story is another person’s home story – and that is the essence of these journeys – discovering bits of one’s self in other cultures, and by extension, the call of our humanity.

The world’s in a pretty crazy place right now, and many of us are looking for calm places where we can heal and center ourselves. Judy Garland wistfully sang about it in Over the Rainbow, that place where “troubles melt like lemon drops”.

During an arm chair trip, I stumbled upon a wonderful story about just such a place of healing, created by a community of formerly abused African women. I’m looking forward to many more stories such as these, as the unfolding of a new humanity continues. It’s a saga of hope and possibilities, and beyond that, a confirmation that our best potential for the future lies in our ability to work together to achieve it.

Ghanaian photographer Paul Ninson on how he was able to visit the ‘village with no men’

Travel to Find You is a repost from August 16, 2022, Escape is a repost from July 6, 2023

The Trip is an excerpt from Soul Journey: The Poetry of Life

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