Now more than ever the Spirit of Adventure is a much needed tonic, like the beautiful bright orange sun climbing over the back hedge outside my window, it is awakening and shaking its tail feathers.
I can feel it calling to me now, it’s time to explore again. Moving home from 18 years in Costa Rica, nursing a sick relative to end of life, and of course the pandemic rather abruptly moved my wandering spirit into repose. But like everything in life, it goes full circle and change is once more coming. I feel myself stretch up and out, ready to embrace a new chapter in life. Do you feel the change in the air? A planet of beautiful people once more wanting to experience life to the full.
When I left the UK twenty years ago for a vacation in Costa Rica, from which I never returned, I had no idea what an incredible roller coaster of a ride it would be. Sometimes there was WAY too much adventure, sometimes I was overwhelmed by fear, sometimes there was SO much joy I felt I could have bottled it 1000 times over and had plenty to spare. In short, it was the most glorious experience of my life. The pandemic changed all that of course, and as myself and my husband climbed onto an evacuation flight and headed home to the UK to care for family, I don’t mind admitting that I feared adventure would be in very short supply. The first winter back in England, as the world was still locked down, I felt so stagnant! I could hardly lift my feet from the mire. I had to change something, I was yearning for adventure, but I didn’t know what.
I have long learnt to be open to opportunity and know it rarely comes in the way we expect it. I felt so restless, I couldn’t sleep, so at 5am on a frozen white November morning I wrapped myself in a blanket and crunched across the grass to my writing hut. My tropical blood, recoiling at the cold, promptly abandoned my toes and hid deep inside my body. Reaching the relative warmth of the shed, I truthfully had no idea where to start. I held a steaming cup of tea and sat in front of a blank screen. It happened of course, I just started typing and words started to fill my page, I felt the incredible flow state descend like mist around me. In all honesty, I don’t feel like I wrote the words of my book, sure it was my fingers that were on the keyboard, but I finally understood there are stories out there waiting to be told, they just need to find someone to open enough to let them flow through them, that is how it felt for me.
I should never have doubted the universe! Writing Crossing Bridges was the most incredible experience.
You don’t have to throw yourself into the wilds of the rainforest to find adventure. Even the mundane is steeped in beauty and opportunity. An open heart and mind are all it takes to lead to life changing experiences, for me it happened in freezing cold November in a shed in Cornwall! The key, I believe, is to be ready! See a door opening and don’t be afraid to walk through it, even if it leads to a frozen garden. Don’t be afraid to say yes. I said yes, but to what I still don’t yet know.
What adventures do you dream of? What adventures were the most memorable of your life? Do you think it is too late now for living outside the comfort of everyday life? I know it’s not. My Mum hiked through the rainforest on her 70th birthday, and this is a lady who didn’t like to leave the village she lives in and the house she was BORN in!!! Oh, fear not, it is never too late.
I love the poem by Erin Hanson.
“There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask, “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?”
Adventure means different things for different people. For me, in Costa Rica, it was frankly a bit insane, incredible, massive, and scary at times, but I loved it. Back here in the UK it was gentle but so tangible and just as beautiful. There is no right or wrong, better, or worst. The experience is yours alone to savour. Maybe you want to dive into a deeper relationship with your horse? Learn a new skill in riding? Write about your experiences? Plan a walking trip with your horse around the property? Maybe you want to sign up for the Mongul derby like Callie, our intrepid HorseClass founder? It can be anything big or small.
Will you join me now in my next adventure? This is one that unnerves me way more than a giant expedition. This is me sharing myself….and I am scared, but I don’t let the fear stop me, I let it propel me, with a giant grin into the wind, in what direction I have no clue.
The time has come to share my book. Crossing Bridges is now ready to meet you! This is a big deal for me, thus far it is my story, my celebration and fear of failure, but now it is time to kiss the cover and let it go into your hands. This is me embracing my new Spirit of Adventure, the same spirit that saw me pull on my boots and start walking. From the Pacific coast of Costa Rica to the Caribbean I walked, urging Zeus, a horse I barely knew to trust me, we walked, and it unfolded a whole new way of being. The journey changed me and the way I look at horses forever and I wish nothing more than the same for you. Maybe my story will touch you in some way and your path will meander with mine for a while. I look forward to that.
Pre-Order for Crossing Bridges is Available NOW
One Response
Hi, would love to know when Andrea will be releasing another course? A follow on from pure liberty.