THe glory of a story |
Thoughts and threads of passion and experience that have woven the fabric I call my life. Sharing experiences, memories and ideas so that they are out in the world for you to find when the time is right.
THe glory of a story |
We hiked a short distance along the lake, through the walking tunnel that would lead you for hours if you were more ambitious and prepared! Then we turned back and started making our way down the side of the mountain. We could have done it more simply, by just taking the trolley down the side of the hill. But that was not to be our experience. Our host felt that what we needed to experience was the exhilaration of making our way down the mountain his way!! Our breathtaking experience is shared in the pictures that we took and embraced as part of this amazing day. The walk down the mountain helped us to truly appreciate the majesty of the Grande Dixence Dam as we walked down the mountain. Breathtaking! How blessed we are to be able to have the opportunity to explore these amazing places as we make our way through this life! Our journey holds so many magical experiences in places around the world. Are you finding ways to experience the places your heart longs to see? If not, why not? What is standing between you and your dreams....and how are you going to bridge those barriers?
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Thursday we struck off about 9am, heading to the Grande Dixience Damn, at the head of the Val d'Hérens in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At 285 m (935 ft) high, it is the tallest gravity dam in the world and is part of the Cleuson-Dixence Complex. Once there we took the trolley to the top, enjoying the phenomenal views from the top. After walking along the top of the dam, we took some time to explore the trail that runs alongside Lake Dix. We didn't venture too far, just far enough to take in some of the incredible flowers that line the walkway and climb up the side of the mountain. After enjoying time at the top, we then all walked down the winding trail down the side of the mountain together. It was a beautiful journey, although the day was very cloudy and hindered some of the view we would have enjoyed with more sunshine. It was still magnificent from start to finish. So why do I spend time documenting and sharing the various aspects of our trip on this blog? Well, when I clarify my own passions, some of what becomes clearest to me is my love for travel, photography and writing. When I do the sweet-spot exercise to tryi and pinpoint a job that would put me in my bliss, what comes to mind every single time is being a travel writer. Will I ever actually be a professional one? Maybe, maybe not. But as I take steps to work myself closer and closer to my passions, I have come to realize that I do travel now. I do lose myself in the wonder and love of my photography right now. And I can share my experiences with others around the world right here on my own site right now. So with the philosophy of 'intention, attention, no tension' ...I have set my intention, I am paying attention in the ways that I can...and doing what I love...well that is no tension. If it's meant to be it will be. If not, I am having a blast just living life. I hope you find ways to do the same, whatever your own passions are! Traveling to Italy has been a dream of mine since I was 17 years old. I am not sure why it felt so important for me to see. Maybe it was just all those cute young men from Sorrento's Pizza in Winnipeg that I had the chance to get to know all those many years ago :). But regardless of what drew me, the dream remained. If you saw my blog with the song 'Welcome to Holland' you'll understand that there is also a connection to that dream as a parent who had a child with a disability. What matters most is that I did finally get to go, and I promised to share the adventure with my friends through this blog from the journal I kept on that trip. Travel and photography are two of my greatest passions. I am clear on my...how about you? I can hardly believe it. it's 8am on Sept 14th, and I have finally arrived in Italy. After dreaming about it for almost 36 years, it feels like it is still an impossibility that I am here! Cec and I arrived in Switzerland on the 11th. JP picked us up and gave us 3 of the most amazing days. I know that we'd have never seen the country so fully had we planned it any other way, and it gave me such a broader view of it all that we could ever have imagined. How lucky we are to have met the people that we have met in this journey of life! I am not even sure what I thought Switzerland might offer, but for some reason I felt surprised by everything we saw and did. Upon our arrival on Tuesday, JP assisted us to get our train tickets for our trip south, then we headed into the heart of switzerland, finally stopping for a lunch of the most amazing fondue at Le Chalet in Chateau-d'Oex. There we enjoyed an amazing lunch, being entertained by a young woman who demonstrated the making of Swiss cheese while we ate, as well as a wonderful old gentleman who played his accordion and demonstrated his talent for yodelling. It was right out of the old story books of the country you read as a child, right down to having the cowbells ringing in the distance. After our meal, we took a walk up to see the old church on the hill, and the graves of young Englishmen, who most likely died there during the war years. The views from the church grounds were breathtaking in all direction, as we looked down on the quiet little town below. The grounds were decorated with a selection of bronze statues, most of them bearing memorial plaques to honor the families they were dedicated to. After our meal and walk, JP took us on a leisurely ride through the mountains on our way to his home in Muraz, but after our long, sleepless night of flying, both of us were sadly too tired to keep our eyes open. My head kept bobbing in the backseat as badly as Cec's was in the front. We were both pretty poor company I fear! We arrived at JP's house about 3. He lives in a beautiful house on a quiet street surrounded by mountains, and a small dairy farm on one side, neighbors on all the others. His home is lovely! Upon arrival we immediately laid down for a nap, the long journey from Canada catching up to us. That nap turned out to be about 3 hours long! Longer than intended, but less than needed. We woke up and had a light cold cut dinner at JP's and watched a John Wayne movie together. Some things you just can't escape! It was a wonderful start to a long awaited adventure! So what are the things that you have been putting off doing? Are there steps that you can take to move you closer to those things? What one action could you do right now? Maybe clarifying your own passions would be a good first step. Your thoughts? Over the holidays, I've found a little time to focus on things that I am passionate about...because isn't that what life is all about? Our passions are clues to what our purpose is all about, and they are whispers from our souls that give us gentle reminders of what we came here to do. Like all of us, I too get lost in the busyness of everyday. In the hustle and bustle of the expectations that we allow others to place on us, or even worse, that which we place upon ourselves. This is my place to continually come back to myself...reminding me what it is in my life that inspires me to keep moving forward towards my own true destination...towards that which I was sent here to accomplish when the universe granted me this one, precious life. What a world we live in where we have these venues and opportunities to reveal our truth to the world. What a blessing, what amazing magic!!! Please enjoy my latest venture into ensuring that my passions are put out into the world to hopefully reach the people that need to hear the message and be healed by it in some small way. Namaste There have been many times in my life where passion and hope were non existent, where the darkness that had developed around me seemed to be as relentless as the pain that had caused it. I will not say for a moment that life has been easy, or struggle free. No life is...no life is meant to be. But what I have learned that even the darkest, bleakest of times will and do pass...just as the good ones will as well. I've learned that we need to live in the moment, knowing good or bad, the moment is just that...a moment in time, there to give us what it is we need, often without our knowing that we needed it, and all that we truly have. With each moment, ask yourself what is this teaching me? Giving me? Showing me? If you can adopt an attitude that nothing happens to you, instead everything happens for you, you begin to open yourself up to the events as they happen, knowing it's for your greater good. You learn to trust that you are not the one who really knows what your greater good really is, but rather it's a source much beyond your control knows that much better than you do. So what do we do when the bad times surround us? Remember they will pass. Remember that your reaction to events, and not the events themselves, often determine the outcome you will experience emotionally and mentally. Do your best to make your reaction and attitude a positive one, creating a chain of positive energy moving forward through it. And when the bad time passes, and the good times come into your life again, remember that these too are impermanent, and that you must relish and drink in all that they have to offer, in the moment that they are there offering them to you! Don't miss the moment, good or bad. Instead, take it all in, drinking deeply from the fountain of experience that they offer you. Trusting deeply that whatever is happening is part of the plan you made for this journey long before you started it, as you try to unravel the mystery of all that is going on about you. The power to come through it is in you, it is you, so know that you can manage whatever the current situation is. Let each moment be part of what it is that leads you to being exactly who you are meant to be, that is....'Truly You'. It may seem strange that I have a second blog on this website. I want to take a moment to explain it to you if I may. A big part of what I do is helping people to figure out what their top passions are, and then on a daily basis, find ways to live those passions. I want people to know what makes them happy, and to find ways daily to be able to live their joy. That brings me joy! I decided that one of the best ways for me to keep encouraging people, is to live by example. With that, I spent the time necessary to clarify my own passions, and have my markers in place, and I realize more and more everyday the things that I am passionate about that truly bring me happiness! This area of the website allows me to express the things I am most passionate about, by sharing things I am doing, and the things that I have done in the past, things I still dream of and work towards doing. It's a place for me to share my experiences and the magic that has happened in my life to bring my passions closer to me, and the steps I take to keep moving closer to the passionate life that is mine for the taking! My hope is that in opening up my world a little, those sharing this journey with me will see ways of moving forward towards their own dreams. Finding ways to share the things they are passionate about, that bring them joy, that make life meaningful. There is magic in sharing our stories with each other. They can give people hope, permission, encouragement. It's important to help others to know that even after the worst of times, there can be a light at the end of some very dark tunnels, and life will move forward and get better. Know that, journey with me as we all embrace that things that bring us the most joy and happiness! |
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