"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca

I am few days away from hiking 350 km with my first client.

My days are filled with concrete preparation. I can be found buying, organizing, packing, and agonizing over food. Testing my stove with Swedish Rödsprit instead of my trusted white gas. Saving receipts so I can mark my investments for my future business account. Gathering details about trail conditions, client insurance, and GPS. What still was a dream a few months ago has become reality: I created myself my dream job (life) and now I am living it.

Gone are the days I had to "construct my challenges". Gone are the days I dreamed up ways to live my life to the fullest potential. Gone are the days I worried about the lacking income.

It's all real now.

I got a young human being to take out into the Swedish Fjälls. I get to lead him through unknown territory, hopefully both inside and out. I get to be "wowed" by him. I get to be silent with him. And I get to listen. If I am lucky he'll tell me some of his story.

B will be on our side. He will make us laugh and inspire us to be gentle with ourselves. I will ensure that his paw continues to heal and that he stays well fed and safely away from the reindeer and the moose and the bear.

I will take photos. I will write notes. Work related ones and private ones.

I will get to ponder.

We are planning to hike 350 kilometers. In 3 weeks. Through some amazing territory. There will be mosquitos. We got spray and head nets, a tent, a bivi, and a mosquito net for B.

We are prepared.

We got a few days left to soak up some pre-trip bliss and continue to put the remaining ducks in a row. Maybe there will be another post before we're heading out. Maybe not.

Either way... have a wonderful shift into the second half of 2010!

Start Eget.

Peacefulness... captured a few hundred yards above our home.




+++

Slowly but surely my business is being born.

One of Mr. Moose's favorite things to tell me is to "slow the *f* down and be patient".

As I have alluded to here before..., patient I am not. At least not when it's about me securing myself a future. In the end I have to be.... and eventually, things work out. May as well stop stressing over the little bits and pieces.

Here's what's been happening on the business front recently.

I have gotten confirmation that I will receive government support for the first 6 months of my business venture. Yay for being 'let in' to the Swedish world by having gotten a personnummer a while back. So, I, like most other people who 'start eget' (= start their own) will be supported by funds as entrepreneurship is understood as a positive way to not fall into the ditch of unemployment. For me that means that I will receive approximately US$ 850 (brutto) per month for free starting July 1st. In order to be granted that money I had to meet with a free (!) business consultant a few times, deliver her with a business plan and register my business (which I did today... horray!). They will take away approximately 30% in taxes (yup, that's how we roll here) and still: I get an income no matter what. Brilliant! (Particularly as I plan to create a financially secure business.... meaning I don't actually depend on this support.)

I am also a mere 10 days away from going on my first 3-week hiking expedition with my first German client. I know, I know, I announced here that I had my first client already - and I did. But this, you guys, is the real thing.

The next 10 days will be spent setting myself up for a (mostly) unsupported backpacking trip west of here. We will hike on the stretch between Sälen and Storlien, the so-called Södra Kungsleden. The distance between the two places is 349 km - obviously there are tons of ways for us to log more or less miles depending on how things go and what we encounter. I get a feeling that it will be rather mindblowing... you'll certainly hear all about it.

Parallel I am working on a web presence for the business venture... aie aie aie... so much excitement!

Recently, I was also able to make an initial connection with a local photographer who is looking to work together with others. It's rather exciting actually... she does nature photography trips with groups and is eager to collaborate in creative ways. When I shared my interest in doing so she sounded at least as intrigued as I feel. She has lived on Grönland before and done some other incredible stuff. We are planning to have fika together on Monday... am curious how that little seed will develop.

So, for now... I get to plan, prepare, and nurse Beefy back in shape. I'll still have to wait for the results of the tumor analysis... We should know by the end of next week. Either way we need to get the rather substantial cut from the surgery to grow back together seamlessly... not an easy task with us two who are movement junkies.

Better listen to Mr. Moose and be patient, huh?

Universe...? I need some academia please!!

Hello there.

Call me manic. Over-the-top. Adrenaline addicted. Restless....?

I really want to find an academic institution that will allow me to grow mentally while I am doing my thing Up North. I feel a need for supervision. For studying. For searching new ways and techniques. For sharing with other professionals. All that stuff.

Which is why I surf the internet - once again - to find that perfect place for me.

The thing is... because I found the place where I want to grow roots (Up North, duhh! Nothing has changed on that end!), I am looking into ways to doing all that either a) via a distance course, b) in workshop form, c) locally, or d)... I wish I knew.

However, it's not that easy to satisfy yours truly. Heh.

Anyways... I have been ogling Prescott College's Masters Program in Adventure-Based Counseling for a while. That was alternative one to my lost seat to study Transpersonal Counseling Psychology with a focus on Wilderness Therapy at Naropa in Boulder. But... it just really doesn't make sense for me to do a 3-year degree traveling between Sweden and the States. Too much unrest. Too much forcing. Too much money (for god's sake!!).

But: I just found Plano Alto again. And this is funny and fascinating in that very grounding way. I first found Plano Alto (at the time called Wildnisschule) in 1998. I had my fingers on their catalogs ever since. (Ask my mom if you need confirmation, she's bundled them into my room just in case I ever directed my gaze towards Switzerland again.) Here's the thing though: They may just be offering me the perfect way to fulfilling my current need.

Plano Alto has a couple programs that I could fit into my life that last between a year and two that require its participants to travel to different places in Europe to earn modules for programs such as Systemische Prozessgestaltung, Erlebnispaedagogik, or Systemische Naturtherapie und Beratung. Added bonus: I am already in love with some of the teachers (thanks to having read their literature before). Another added bonus: Those programs cost me a tiny fraction of the US equivalents (meaning... e.g. Euro 4,600.-- for the Systemische Naturtherapie program instead of 66,000 US$ for the program at Prescott). Another added bonus: It's European (probably helpful for my program up here). Another added bonus: Participating in a program that has workshops in Switzerland (and on occasion in Greece!) will get my butt home... it's been 2 (!) years. Another added bonus: I can easily combine this with my firm in the making.

Wow. You may hear more of Plano Alto in the near future.


Universe? ------ Thanks. You continue to blow my mind.

Central America - here I come!!

Wow.

I just sealed the following deal:

Drive south, hug the Beef, leave with N & N.

Travel to US (Montana) to hug a friend and to meet teenage boy on farm.

Take boy, travel to Central America (exact location to be determined by yours truly).

Backpack for about a week, successfully reach goal of challenge (created by yours truly).

Return to Montana, do farm-y stuff with boy (also, food bank, fitness center, animal care).

Warmly welcome back friend (who owns farm) after her trip to Peru.

(Possibly take a quick trip to hug friends in Oregon).

Come back to farm, get some new client backpacking.

(Possibly take a quick trip to hug friends in Oregon) - only once though.

Return to Sweden.

Hug the Beef.

Start own business in Sweden.



Have I mentioned that life is incredible? Wow-ser.

It's a boy!!

Yes, I did...

... get a car.

Around midnight.

Clearly, it's a boy.

Bought it from a farmer's boy.


It's a Turbo... (environment, please forgive me).

But, it's offering me:

And it allows Beefy and I to move Up North.

And take care of stuff...

Like, checking on stugas on Saturdays (our first side-job Up North).

He's pretty in a subtle way, no?

He's born in 1994.

He's a Volvo 945.

Automatic.

He even has a hitch!

And we got Thule bars with it.

Just a little rust.

And lots of space.

For adventures...

Like sleep ins :)

Next up:
-Insurance shopping
-Registering him in my name
- Cleaning him, packing
- Finding a suitable name.

Taking a Leap... Again.

I feel as if I am entering a major transition.

So much can happen over the next few days.

I long for a change from my stagnate, yet blissful days with B in Paradise.

My visit of Mr. Moose moves closer and closer.

He shows tons of foresight and takes care of everything but "you decide if you wanna bring your skis, but certainly bring your dog :)". Will this trip be the beginning of a new life phase for me?

One where I can actually... 1) Learn Swedish, 2) create a home for Buford and I, 3) grow roots?

I am giddy and full of joy and anticipation.

Today marks B and I's last day in Paradise... for a while.

We're about to take our last long walk, and are in the midst of packing.

Packing is such a wonderful activity to me. Full of thoughts, full of promise, full of wonder.

I've been packing for a while. In all kinds of ways.

How will this story evolve?

Will B and I find what we're looking for?

What am I looking for?

+ Grounded, authentic people with goals that support mine
+ Landscape that continually inspires me
+ A sustainable, challenging, rewarding job opportunity
+ A refuge of sorts (simple is OK... I've enjoyed my trusty van "Shark" before)
+ Opportunities to learn and grow

What is B looking for?

+ Regular feeding times (or more)
+ Long walks (or more)
+ Play time (all-the-time)
+ Moose friends (if they're nice)
+ Snacks that aren't locked in a box (please?)


Next step: Walk. Dream. Ponder.

Do you believe in self-fulfilling prophecies?

Still High from Yesterday!

While I am still without a job or health insurance or any security for my future for that matter, I am dancing and giggling and flying high...!

Not only did I take care of my end of responsibilities in order to be sent money within ten days or so - but I also received an email from La Gomera yesterday evening (just noticed it today though).

Yup, the moose guy is interested enough in my skills and talents to connect with me while checking out the departure of this year's rowers leaving La Gomera to row across the Atlantic.

How promising is that? Sounds like he is at least as eager as I am to meet.

As if that wasn't enough excitement - Söderköping is looking magical in ice for the second day in a row... Look for yourselves:





Bye now - gotta frolic down the cobblestones to the Posten to deliver the mail so it gets across the ocean quickly. Whatever you do today... find some joy in it! :)

What if...

This is what I wrote two days ago, late at night. I wanted to publish it, but my elusive wireless decided that I couldn’t.

What if…

… I was really courageous and lived my dream? What would that look like?

It would look something like this:

I would be self-employed and travel Europe in a bus with Buford. We would work for intensive projects here and there that we believe in – focused around youth and their families, sustainability, nature, creativity, expression, and development. We would continue to learn about people and their cultures, the environment, ourselves, and the planet. We would share our experiences, energy, and knowledge through words, photography, and actions. We would focus on our physical and emotional health, authenticity, and connections with others and the environment.

That’s what I’ll work towards. Starting now.

I got everything I need to do that. Right here and now.

I feel free, strong, inspired, and thankful.