You know, I once had this dream to spend a whole summer in Greece helping sea turtles. Each year that went by I tried to make this dream happen, but it never did, because there was always something that wasn’t right. And so over the years I forgot that I even had this dream. When the dream knocked on my door, I told myself that the timing was not good or that I was too old for it now or that dreams are just that: dreams. For me it feels like a miracle that I finally did embark on this journey to the turtles in the exact moment, when I needed it the most. This dream apparently has waited for the right time and I just bred it over the years.
The trip to the turtles was like a starting point to the fulfillment of my dreams. It showed me that dreams can come true. I would even go so far to say that dreams are here to come true. It was only after my time in Greece that I really started to dream, of self-employment, of a life in and with nature, of freedom, of a life that I felt aligned with. I learned that I’m allowed to dream big, but also that dreams take time and mostly don’t choose the same timing as I would want them to. In my book, the fulfillment of my dreams is deeply connected to letting go and most of all to trust. Of course, I want and have to actively create my path and choose where I want to go, but sometimes I need to surrender to the flow of life and trust that it brings me to the place of my dreams. And sometimes this place is very different from what I dreamt it to be, but it’s always exactly right or even better. This blog, too, is a dream come true: the dream to be a writer has secretly been on my side for quite some time and the dream to share my thoughts came with my journey to the turtles.
I also learned that some dreams don’t feel right anymore when they become reality, because I changed and forgot that my dreams are allowed to do that as well. And this again teaches me the art of letting go. Not so easy, when your past self wanted this dream so badly and is still telling you to go and get it and I now have to explain to her that this dream just isn’t a good fit for my present version anymore…
With this blogpost, dear reader, I would like to offer a piece of motivation: dream big and believe with all your might that your dreams come true. Your dreams are like seeds that you plant in the soil. They already have everything they need to become a beautiful flower one day. Perhaps they don’t know yet how, but they know that they can grow, because that’s what they want. Although you have to water the seed and give it some compost for nutrition, you also just have to leave it be. You have to trust that the seed someday will grow into a flower, without your doing. You must let go of your expectations because “the gras doesn’t grow faster when you pull on it”, as we say here in Switzerland. Nonetheless you are the gardener of your life. You decide which plants you grow where, how and when. Your life-garden is exactly this: your garden. If you don’t become active, it will get overgrown by platns you might not want. That’s why: dream. Dream big! Sow the seeds, even if they are tiny and fragile, look after them, but then let them go.
Like a dream
Now it's almost over, this journey. Or does it only start when I'm back home? It feels like someone pushed the reset-button and reconfigured me for six weeks. Time will show how this update will match my old life. I'm positive, though. I haven't felt this good in a long time and I was able to recharge my batteries here.
The last few days I spend in tranquility and complete remoteness. I'm surrounded by a jungle and I share this wonderful little spot on this earth with a few chickens, a snappy dog and a deaf donkey. I'm filling my "vitamin sea"-bank, writing a lot, being creative and pondering my time here. I can't believe I have been gone for so long! It feels much shorter, almost like a dream. Did I really just experience all of this? I look at my pictures and I hardly recognize myself. I read my words and my mind knows they're mine, but my brain thinks that it can't be me who is the lucky one to have made all of these experiences.
Especially the weeks at the turtle camp taught me to be in the present moment. Absorbed by one thing there wasn't a yesterday nor a tomorrow, only the here and now. I was granted a return to my childlike self, I laughed a lot, I felt connected to nature and to the people, I found peace and I was able to nurse the deep wound in my heart. I want to experience moments like these at home, too. Therefore I'm not only putting my sun-bleached clothes, a lot of involuntary sand and one or two souvenirs in my suitcase, but I'm also packing this very special turtle energy. It's the best thing in my luggage and will hopefully stay with me for what is to come.
On one of my last morning shifts: you can recognize us volunteers by the blue shirts of the turtle organization.
My last hatchling making its way from the nest to the sea.
The not so nice side of my work: excavations. We excavate the nests after they should have been hatched for data collection.
On my last days in Greece I'm becoming a tourist, spending my time at the beach reflecting on those last weeks .
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