Cali Journey

People who know me well know that one of my absolute favorite movies is Eat, Pray, Love. One day, as I was walking across the grounds at Mount Madonna, I realized that I felt as if I were living out the movie. 

I was there, in part, for my own growth and healing. 

I had attended a ceremony that morning at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple on the property and felt entranced as I heard the devotion of the crowds of people singing Arati songs and prayers. 

The entire experience within my training/retreat was transformative and accomplished my intention…to train in a powerful healing modality that I will offer to others as well as to experience the power of the treatment first-hand. The result is biologically proven to “open the heart” and re-establish “critical periods” reminiscent of a child’s ability to easily learn a new language or play an instrument. 

So, my real life “Pray” experience was more than I could have imagined it to be. 

As I arrived in Santa Barbara to my friend, Christine’s home, we set out on a planned itinerary that she had carefully curated. 

We spent much time looking across the ocean, meandering through shops and quaint towns, visiting her favorite restaurants and neighborhood stops. 

We drove up to wineries, drove down to Malibu where I bought a hat off a woman's head (😁), stayed in Ojai (this was my favorite, which of course led me to dream of creating another Hope Springs location in the little downtown area), went to an amazing wine/chocolate/charcuterie dinner around a farm table with 12 strangers who became friends in a garden behind a Spanish villa. 

It sounds like a dream, and it was. I could not have enjoyed any part of this trip more, and there is no way that I could have planned it out. This was the first time ever that I have literally moved from moment to moment trusting that it was “the next right thing,” and it was perfect. 

Last night, Christine and I walked down to State Street in Santa Barbara and enjoyed the beauty of that area as we shopped and dined for our last time together on this trip. As we walked back to her house, we could see the moon in front of us as the sounds of a Beatles tribute band serenaded  us from the Santa Barbara Bowl as it echoed throughout the valley.

 

Christine said that she had not eaten so much in such a short period of time as she had since I arrived on Tuesday. I agreed. We were stuffed.

Definitely my “Eat” era within the whole Eat, Pray, Love theme!

As I was drifting to sleep last night, I thought about the similarities between this trip and the movie, and I remembered the trip to Italy that I bought last month at the Walton County Chamber of Commerce BBQ & Bourbon event! 

My friend, Mindy, went with me, and I had downloaded the auction bidding app as we entered the event. The trip to Cortona was screaming at me every time we walked around the silent auction items, and I pulled it up on my app. Mindy came alongside at one point and whispered, “DO IT.” 

“Nooooooooooo…….I can’t do that.” 

As the night wore on, we came back around the auction items as we each had several bids going, and I stopped yet again in front of the Cortona, Italy display. 

“DO IT!” Mindy said again. 

I stood there. Staring at the display board. 

“Under the Tuscan Sun…..” she whispered.

Without thinking, I hit “Bid Now!” and the trip was mine. 

So, I know what you’re thinking….the “Love” part. 

That’s already all around me. That has been interwoven throughout!

So…. On to Italy!!!🇮🇹 (and now that those "Critical Periods" have been reopened, I can learn Italian!)