Opposite values

My days here pass within slow pace and harmony.
Yesterday we literally had honeymoon with my daughter; we had lunch together with couple of friends, and then head home for some housework, while she did her homework. I did my favorite house activity and hang the wet washed clothes on the drying rack at the back garden. Sunlight softly infiltrating down from the branches of the trees surrounding the garden. It’s a heavenly spot and just to be able to be there to hang those clothes is such a joy for me, and so, that’s what I have decided to do.
Then we sat by the table and dedicated an hour to handicraft, a form of meditation for our souls, quality time spent together in action and devotion to our work at hand.
When the bracelets were done and adored, we jumped on our bikes and head off to a 4,5km village track for biking, which ended up in 2 laps and 9km of nature watching, working out and playing. We enjoyed the time spent with such ease and joy that, it was a memorable ride for both of us.
In the meantime, I found myself telling her a story, an awareness that has dawned upon me at that exact moment. Actually, this conversation has been done years ago, with my sister, in Los Angeles at a hiking we have done in the forest. And here I was, years later telling the same story that was rising within me once again to my daughter this time; of nature and life.
While we were biking, she would face up to a challenge of a hill training that in the beginning used to be something she could hardly deliver, but now she bared with no fear. But then again, there came some routes that the ride was smooth and easy and she would built up her energy and enjoy the ride, getting ready for the next challenge to bear.
And I told her “Look darling, life is the same as this road we are riding on. In life, there are smooth rides, where the road is slightly down slope, and you don’t have to do much, but enjoy the ride. Life works in mysteries ways and the ride will not always be as easy. There will come times that you have to face up hills that will be challenging. They will be killing your leg muscles and you would feel so exhausted and tired that you just might want out, stop and not move an inch. Don’t ever give up because there will come a time that the downhill steep will be so deep that you might choose to let go. Just open your legs and arms and let the wind guide you, totally surrender in your heart to the rhythm of the world. ”
Also in life, there will be days that you will feel as if you are on a fantastic rollercoaster and your adreline will be so high. This highness will keep you alive, fresh and wondrous. Just like those hard times in life, there will be days that the feeling of freedom will capture you and awaken every muscle and bone, expand your heart.
Always keep in mind that, just like the nature with its hills and valleys, seasons, days and nights, yin and yang…. there will always be opposite values that complement each other in your life, in every aspect.
Life was built this way, to challenge us, to remind us that nature itself is a shift in between these opposite yet complimentary values. It makes this world we live in and being an human being on this world an exceptional journey.
The excitement is in the duality. The awareness of this duality and the expression of that in real life is a step into awakening. A step into surrendering to the ultimate truth of the reality, and floating through life.
That’s what life is intended to be. Shift your awareness and your life will change with you. Live your day to your fullest with all your heart!

Gokova, Turkey

Gokova, Turkey

Escape

I am on a vacation, practically in heaven. At least, for a soul like me, this is all my heart desires. I am enjoying every single moment I have on this secluded paradise, located in a town by the Aegean Sea in Turkey. My escape is this small seaside village of this town, whose main income is generated through farming and agriculture. Within this village, there lays a sub-village composed of somewhat 50 townhouses.
The inhabitants of the farmlands are naive and real. It somehow feels as if you are back to your roots, to a time before you too have been polluted with the big city and its mesmerizing lights, the life that it offers.
The pace of life within this village is in synch with Mother Nature’s terms. Everybody wakes up with the nature, no matter if you are one the farmers or one of us.
We are the dwellers who reside in those 50 townhouses. We are from the big cities, and have been escaping from that life into this village for the last five decades. We all know each other since our childhood years, and even though most of us have lost touch over the years, we all somehow, from time to time find ourselves within this preserved land untouched by the information age’s burden on our souls.
It feels “light” to be able to live here, even for the shortest time. Knowing that this place really exists just calms my heart, and this feeling of safety captures my soul. I feel that never dying hope deep in my veins. My faith for the goodness of humanity flourishes even more.
And now, I also see the lightness of freedom in my daughter’s eyes. She feels so independent and safe here that she gets to experience herself truly and openly, just like I did when I was in her age. This amazing land promises that freedom in its nature.
Today, when we were leaving the local cafe by the seaside to head back to home and spend quality time with my daughter, we came across with this friend. Actually, she is a friend’s friend and we don’t know each other that well.
During our conversation, she said that it’s been too hectic and the life she has left in the city was so busy these days that she felt exhausted. While she was elaborating on her duties in the city, I realized that although her body was here, with me in the village, she was still in the city. Her biological clock was set to the city pace. She has been there for a while and you could feel city oozing out of her skin. Although her body was surrounded by this magical land, her mind was still stuck in the city and the responsibilities it carried with it.
I humbly recommended her to sit down with a glass of beer and just watch and listen the sound of the nature surrounding her, for a couple of minutes. Quietly just be present briefly and hopefully then her mind could reach where her soul already is. And maybe then, she could tune in with the pace of this village and its surrounding nature.
Funnily enough, I saw her in that afternoon and she said she did as I have suggested and she was so thankful for my advice. That stillness did indeed carried her to the present moment and I could see that she was much calmer now.
And you know what; I feel so blessed most of the time as I know and I believe that the world as we know is changing, slowly and surely. The awakening has started! Every day, I come across with so many souls that with one single word I know that they know and that they are on the path to knowledge. Just one small touch, one little gesture and we start to experience the reality.
We are not alone. Like me, if you also stupidly believe in the goodness and in life, in humanity… If you are also in love with your life, yourself, everything that has been offered to you… You are not alone! Slowly and gradually we are all waking up. I see and feel that every day, in every sparkling eye I look into. No matter how skeptic or lost some might feel sometimes, I see that light in their eyes. If you scratch the surface there is that need, that desire to know, to belong, to love and be loved regardless of all that outer layer we tend to carry on us as a burden on our shoulders… there is beauty everywhere. We are waking up from our sleep, realizing what we really are… That we are made of love.
And nature… It has most of the answers to our questions, eagerly waiting to reveal them when needed. I am ultimately grateful for its patience and the unconditional love it offers everyday to its inhabitants. And now, I am off to enjoy whatever little time I have left in this land. Have a nice weekend.
Namaste!