Back in Contact.

As you may know from my previous posts I have spent August and September working with German teenagers and their families on finding ways to heal in nature. During those months I spent a lot of time participating in Gestalt Therapy. According to my Gestalt teachers, everything is about contact. To be "in contact" means to look into another beings eyes and to feel what is coming up within oneself. I enjoy to be in contact. It feels real, sometimes vulnerable, sometimes joyful, and it allows me to grow.

Since arriving here in Bend I haven't really been "in contact". It's been wonderful, don't get me wrong - yet some of the depth that makes me love my job and gets me to travel around the globe was missing. Until today - when I went shopping. Now, for those who know me this may come as a big surprise (to me it did)... as I am not really a shopping-type. But thanks to... Nichole? life?... I happened to enter a local shop that's filled with cutsie stuff. My friend started to talk with what turned out to be the owner immediately as Nicole admired her beautiful 8-month old girl that was entertaining herself in her "lil' cubicle". A little later our conversation shifted from my accent to my move to Sweden and that's when it happened: I got to experience a "contact" moment with a stranger. Sheareen heard about Friluftsteamet's goal to offer wilderness therapy treatment to teens in Sweden and was so touched when she heard that there were many youth from the Middle East in our target group that her eyes filled with tears. She excused herself for being "totally PMS-y" and I... was just flooded by feelings of gratitude for her love for people she hasn't even met and the energy she's offering to me by admiring what I am trying to do. How beautiful. She shared that she has roots in Iran and longed to work with youth from war-troubled places. She also said that having her girl was the best thing she has ever done. She touched me somewhere inside and motivated me and got me excited. We talked for a while and decided to exchange emails. She said I could email her if I ever needed a lift-me-up. I said "oh, I will - cause I know I'll be lonely at times". I also decided to give her this blog address. It will likely motivate me to post more often (I am still holding a lot of news about developments in Sweden while I was earning some much-needed $s here in the States) and possibly even shift my focus a bit to letting people know how things are going within our organization....

So, thanks a million, Sheareen. I love how emotionally available you allowed yourself - and me - to be. That's why I am doing the work I am doing. I'll use your boost to get me through some tough spots.