metamorphosis

this is an article I wrote about my experience at the Shire for a publication of Shikshantar www.swaraj.org/shikshantar, a learning center in India.

Metamorphosis

There are some places with a timeless quality that enables you to be who you are and experience the immense depths of being a human. Such a place will envelop you and hold you gently as you wonder around and explore through the layers of your being and try to manifest your real nature. It will gift you the learning and lessons you need to evolve and expand; it will call you ‘the right people’ to play with…There are places on earth that has this kind of power, especially when it is combined with the power of one’s intention to evolve and openness and trust in the emergence.

I needed a place like this when I walked out of my workplace 5 months ago, not only because I did not want to be part of an “old game” that didn’t work for me anymore but also I felt in my guts another calling, another way of being and working. For some time, I’d been contemplating on how to step out of the mechanistic paradigm to create something that is more life-affirming, in harmony with nature and uplifting. “How to live an authentic life, from the work I do to the food I eat to the transport I use” has been a growing question in me. I was intuitively sensing a shift in my awareness, approaching of a new life and a new being: a beginning to do the work I am committed to do and to live more aligned to my understanding of life and spirituality. The work I am called to do is creating spaces and opportunities for people to step into higher consciousness and sustainable living. To be able to start this work, I needed to step out of my habitual patterns and start practicing what I want to create in the world. I needed a safe, nourishing space to give birth to this new life and to unfold my calling.

Then came the invitation. From a place called ‘the Shire’. It was a genuine call for volunteers from Tim Merry, someone I had met a few years ago at another magical place called ‘Castle Borl’, who was setting up a learning center called the Shire in Nova Scotia, Canada. At once I knew this was the time, this was the place for me to go. And this epiphany was followed by a series of events that made my hunch become reality.

The three months I spent at the Shire as a volunteer proved to be a chrysalis-like-experience: lots of green, sun and rain to nourish the spirit, lots of people to learn and play with, lots of contemplation and stillness to see and sense myself and my life…In every moment of the adventure, magic settled in, whether it was eating berries from a bush on a sun washed path, or creating a permaculture garden out of cardboard mulch and tasting the peas and cucumbers it produced later on, or meeting the kind of people who opened their hearts so generously that I would find myself amazed, again and again…This place really helped me to find the ever-present sense of magic, possibility and well-being in everyday life which I believe it would be present for me wherever I go. As I worked on the land I reconnected with the earth which gave me a real sense of perfectness and inherent richness in all; I slowly started shifting from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance. In an attempt to understand my “work” patterns, I came to acknowledge and cherish my qualities and gifts and found immense inspiration to put them into the service of life. The trees, the birds, the wind, the lake advised me to do that in a lighthearted and playful manner!

As I walked through being me and re-connecting with life and earth at the Shire, I came to see and reaffirm what I want to create in the world: I want to create and host a learning/nourishing/reconnecting space for higher consciousness and sustainable living. I want to create an innovation kitchen! I envision the innovation kitchen to be an interactive learning space where people will gather to cook together (literally), in playful and creative spirit, while they will also ‘cook’ ideas, learn, inspire and get inspired by each other. Kitchen concept was born out my best experiences because in my experience food is sacred and nourishing, not only for body but also for mind and spirit, and cooking together, co-creation process invites the playful and creative mood to set in which allows people to connect, share their wisdom and learn genuinely…

I strongly feel that the Shire has been my gateway from a secure yet stagnant life into a more chaordic and creative life open to possibilities and magic. In the web of life, we will be connected through our work for unleashing the human potential for a better world.

Thank you, Shire!