Victoria  

P.S. The Earthfire Institute is a 501C3 non-profit organization that could really use your support. There are are two ways that your contribution can help Earthfire. Your gift can directly support operating costs; which includes animal care, vet care, and educational outreach or, you can support their capital campaign, which includes expanding the habitat for the animals.  I know you give back in many ways already, but if you feel a tug for these amazing animals and the guidance they have to offer us humans, please consider a tax deductible donation - no matter the size, it will be so appreciated!!  

 

As the poet Rumi said, "there are 100 ways to kneel and kiss the earth".... meaning we each have our own Journey to take, to discover our deepest love and how we can express it.  The alternative is to slip into a safe form of comfort and security where we can pretty much sleep our way through life.

Well there's no sleeping when a lynx is rubbing his head along your legs and feet for 5 minutes! Right, Kelly? 

Kelly and Elmo the lynx 'meet up'

Breathing is essential.  Like breathing, we got to RECEIVE so much from the animals of Earthfire - their curiosity, their gentleness, their beauty, their presence.  Each animal we met, from Bluebell the buffalo to Runs Like the Wind (deer), to Foxie Whitefoot to Teton Totem the grizzly bear, shared with us these amazing qualities.  What a gift!

Retreats are one of the offerings I create to empower women.  And they are also, like my whole business, a form of Awakening for me.  Whatever I am creating gives me the chance to stretch and come up against whatever is holding me captive or 'less than'. 

Two of the places that I got to S-T-R-E-C-H with this creative project (and there were more but don't want to write an entire book here!) are Believing in the Dream and Being Fearless. Here are a few thoughts about learning on each.

Belief is what Life is all about.  As Goethe said so long ago,

I've lived by this statement just about all my life.  It's taken me around the globe and back.  It's allowed me the honor of supporting others with wild retreats and insightful coaching.  It's given me the strength and courage to say YES to leaving my marriage and beginning a new life.  And in my human-ness, I will always run up against my disbelief. 

Deciding that I could create a successful retreat with the Earthfire Institute was fueled by my passion for building more awareness around Deep Ecology - the interconnectedness of all Life.  How we treat and interact with other species on this Earth.  That is a passion I've held since I was a small child.  And as it resurfaced at this juncture of my Journey, I said YES to a new way to make a contribution.  When I said YES, even though I needed to connect with many unknown people and resources to be successful, even though there were obstacles that arose around me and within me, all kinds of amazing resources came together - delicious food, beautiful accommodations, equine outfitters, canoes, and Susan and Jean, my co-conspirators at Earthfire all danced together for me in a new choreography of support! 

Wild Women on Retreat with Susan & Jean of Earthfire

This is a key component to our Heroine's Journey - when you get off the fence and choose - say YES to the DREAM, magic appears!  Trust that - and you will find yourself playing in a bigger landscape of fantastic adventures!

What keeps us from fearlessness?  Our egos!  The stories they tell us trigger emotions, that then trigger a bodily reaction and from a place of Fear we contract and place limits on our experience.  We must develop discernment about those stories.  As they arise, we can counter them with our Belief, Passion and Trust for reaching beyond the safe corners of our lives.  This will bring us Freedom - to be the creative and inspirational beings we are!

I put out an invitation to meet Wild Animals on this latest retreat.  Some people just shook their head at me with wonder - Are you crazy?! - their stories had them captive in limitation.  The 10 women who joined me took another route.  They risked.  Perhaps the Fear was there - most likely there was some as I had a bit as well - but we all stepped beyond the story.  Led by our curious open hearts, we leapt!

We met our Wild Nature.  With the animals, in the mountains and on the river.  Together in circles of discovery and expression.  Riding to the top of the mountain, we received a True View of who we really are.  And from there, new Acts of Beauty and Power were committed to.  Stretching, Fearlessness and Leaping birthed new forward movement for each woman and her contribution to our world.