Annual Letter 2006

Ringing the Dinner Bell

 

Thank goodness these letters arrive on your doorstep only once a year or I might be risking redundancy. As it is, perhaps I am amazingly consistent. I want to tell you everything that I have done, learned, experienced, felt, and lived this year, but that would take a lot of paper. Suffice it to say I have a wonderful life, just like George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart). Oh, I suppose just like George Bailey I could just as easily say I have a horrible life. But why would I do that? One is just as real as the other and, since I am the cook in this kitchen, I will choose what is on the menu (good stuff.)
 

I went to Thailand in January for two weeks. I took over three hundred film pictures, mostly of elephants, since that was my main reason for going to Thailand. Even though I have worked with horses all my life, I am still learning about their way of communicating and I am now interested in the way elephants communicate, too. Once in Thailand and next to what they call “domestic” elephants, I was struck by their size and presence. I was not particularly surprised by the size issue, but I found the magnetic presence of elephants to be most remarkable. It was intimidating for me, really, and I was reminded of the way people can feel around horses, too. I have become used to the presence of horses, so it was refreshing to be in the presence of elephants reminding me to be mindful. And I was mindful. I have not forgotten, even though it has been nearly a year since I was with the elephants, the overwhelming feeling that it is not elephants who are uncannily like us, but rather the other way around. We humans are an awful lot like elephants, only we seem to lack their integrity in my estimation.
 

My friends and guides in Thailand were Amanda de Normanville and her husband, Gary Soden of All For Elephants. They are developing a sanctuary for elephants in Thailand and I hope to be of some assistance. In fact, I have lots of hopes. You might even call them dreams. The farthest reaching include the elephants, the closest to home include a happy, healthy and wealthy me. But what is a hope or a dream but something we feel separate from because it has not yet happened. That is the illusive nature of a dream, so this year I have practiced simply being or doing what I want. In other words, I AM assisting  Amanda and Gary and I am happy, healthy and wealthy.
 

Focusing upon that which inspires me most, I enthusiastically learned more about photography, taking a bazillion pictures of Bald Eagles and sunsets on an Abraham-Hicks Alaskan Cruise with Dave. I improved my hosting skills as the owner of an ever-more-popular vacation rental, with Agri-Tourism being the main draw. I wrote, wrote and wrote some more, even finding a book developer, Naomi Rose, to help me on my way. I went to Hawaii with Eyla and experienced vicariously a trip that Alex and Dave took to Arizona’s desert where Alex learned to make fire with sticks and they both ended up eating mice for sustenance. I planted, maintained and  harvested from two gardens, one for the Vacation Rental and one for my family. I played with and collaborated on ideas with Indie, who is now three years old and has had me on his back in a casual, largely non-directed way. And best of all, I have spent glorious time with family, friends and clients who resonate with me.
 

The interesting thing about spending time with resonant others is that to do so is like ringing a dinner bell; more resonant others keep coming. I love that aspect of living an inspired life because you never know who will join you next. For example, Belinda Stewart-Cox, a woman I met in Thailand who is currently researching the Human/Elephant Conflict by studying wild elephants, recommended I read a book by Katy Payne called Silent Thunder. This book is no longer in print, so it took some tracking down, but when I found it I just knew I had to know the author. The book is an incredible account of her research on elephant communication. So I e-mailed her. She e-mailed me back and we ended up eventually talking on the phone. What ecstasy! I also read an article called An Elephant Crack up by Charles Siebert. I wrote to him and to two others he mentioned in his article, one of whom is a woman scientist, Dr. Gay Bradshaw. Gay wrote me back, too, and we also ended up talking on the phone and discussing ways to collaborate. I mentioned to her an author I admire, Dolores La Chapelle, who wrote Sacred Land, Sacred Sex: Rapture of the Deep, an incredible book about Deep Ecology. And on rings the dinner bell…
 

It is a bit like being a dog in the woods, living this way. I do not mind that at all, though, as I have always envied the apparent feast dogs (and horses) seem to enjoy through their senses. I actually do not think I am excluded from this experiential feast so much as I am distracted from the opportunity by hopes and dreams or, probably even more accurately, by discouragement and disillusionment. This is just a fancy way of saying the feast is in the moment, which is also a fancy way of saying be or do it NOW. So my wish for you is a wonderful life. As the current year dwindles and the New Year beckons, enjoy the banquet of inspiration as it draws your attention from one delectable experience to another. Don’t bother with nasty tasting stuff! Follow your heart’s delight and remember to notice and appreciate who is at the dinner table with you.