With Childlike Curiosity and Wonder

You’ve heard me say all this before:

• Follow your bliss.
• Tune into your intuition by paying attention with childlike curiosity and wonder to what awakens your spirit.
• Ask and you shall receive.
• Take one inspired action at a time to see where it takes you.

I’m so glad I did!

The first thing I noticed as my taxi from Sacramento turned into Ananda Village in the Sierra foothills of California were the donkeys and goats. I craned my neck as we climbed the road past them.

The grin on my face told me it wouldn’t take long to come back to that spot to commune with them. I didn’t even have to do that!

It turns out that the Mowing Team’s fenced-in territory extended right below my bedroom window, where I could see them making their way to and from their various chomping grounds.

Soon after, I met Virani Ramsden, aka the goat lady, and Ian Allen, one of her WWOOFers (an international volunteer program separate from my karma yoga one – World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms).

Needless to say, I asked if I could come to the milking barn for a visit. 

Next thing I knew, I had sore smile muscles and over a hundred clips for what became the video above.

What fun! The 12 hours I spent on the video were more than I’d spent at the milking barn, but I got as much fun creating the video.

On an aside, I do believe that I’ve had such a hard time appealing my “under age” ban on my video editing app because Divine Mother wanted me to do more yoga and meditation instead of spending all my free time … and sleep time … creating videos.  But that’s another story.

The point is, if you’re curious about something, follow through!

For me, asking to come to the milking barn after feeling such joy at just spotting the goats and donkeys on my way in led to some beautiful opportunities and connections. It helped me become a part of the village. For that, I am so grateful.

So many villagers told me after watching the video that they didn’t know what the inside of the barn looked like. They weren’t aware that Virani had acquired equipment to help her do the milking. They got an education and a few chuckles too.

I remember when I worked at the National Capital Commission and later taught English as a Second Language at the University of Ottawa. I organized so many activities that had me discovering my hometown in many new ways.

It’s so easy for locals to take things for granted or simply be unimpressed by what tourists travel the world to see.

Don’t you find that you get to know places you visit much better than your own hometown? Maybe that’s why I’ve been inspired to move so many times in my life. I love discovering new places.

It’s kept my childlike curiosity and wonder alive.

But now that I’ve lived 13 years in the same city, I’ll admit, I don’t nearly do as much tourism and culture as I used to. It’s true, my attention is often more on my inner world than the outer world, but again, that’s another story.

The challenge is not to become blasé about where we’re at – inwardly or outwardly. Challenge yourself to see the world with new eyes… including the people around you.

After all, nothing in life is constant but change itself.

No one wakes up in the morning exactly as they were the day before. This is just as true with nature, cultural programming, or relationships.

So why not wake up like children do – open, curious and in the flow of the evolving mystery of every day. Let’s not get blasé about life.

If you’re curious about something, follow that impulse. Take inspired action. And see where it takes you. Remember to wear the right boots!