Sunday, May 25, 2014
Dear Inner World,
I’m currently on the ferry, leaving Dubrovnik and heading to Italy. I’ll be in Italy for a few days before making my way to Spain. I’m looking forward to exploring new places, yet I must admit that after spending a month in Croatia I will miss it! I truly resonated with this country. I’ve met so many incredible people along the way and made so many new memories.
Dubrovnik
The people I’ve met here have truly taken me in as part of their own family. If you’ve been following, you can tell my whole trip has been unfolding this way. Spending so much time in Croatia as I did allowed me to really connect – not only with other travelers but with locals as well. Experiencing and spending time with people who live in and are from the country you are visiting is truly a unique experience. Spending time with natives! You gain a different perspective that otherwise as a tourist or even a seasoned traveler you wouldn’t have. The place and people you meet become a part of you; they stay with you the way a loving, longing memory does.
I am in deep gratitude for how my journey has been unfolding, at each moment I’ve been lead to the right place and the right time: meeting those who I’m here to meet and who are here to meet me.
I’ve been attracting many people into my experience who are searching spiritually, and it has been a further confirmation that I’m on purpose, that I’m making a difference each day with each person I meet, simply by being me… I truly love connecting with people on a heart-to-heart level; even if it is only for a brief moment. It’s hard to put into words, but it’s such a fulfilling feeling within when you share an open space with another, no judgment, no fear, just openness and love for the moment at hand, the ultimate high of life.
I spent a week in Dubrovnik and I loved the hostel I stayed in called Dubrovnik Backpackers Hostel. It’s a family operated hostel, the family of 8 is truly charming and I’m happy that I met them. This hostel has really beautiful light energy and therefore it’s a place that attracts like-minded people. I noticed during my stay there that mostly everyone I met at the Hostel were people of depth, many who were in search of themselves or simply seeking to understand their place in this big Universe.
I really connected with the family, they took me in has part of theirs. Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in the lounge area, when Milka (the mom) came down and invited me to join her and her son Josip to a small village where a friend of hers lives. For a moment I was hesitant to say yes, because I was a bit a tired and was about to make myself lunch at that moment. But then I remembered that it’s important not only to be open to life but to say YES to it, by taking advantage of every opportunity that presents itself, even more so on a journey like this. You never know where it will lead you, or what you will encounter…
I’m very pleased that I ended up going with them because it turned out to be a wonderful experience, that touched me. We took the car to the other side of a towering mountain where a small village of almost 200 years dwells. As we meander through the road up the mountain on a single rugged narrow path, a path that by the narrowest of margins barely fits one car, and there is no-where for the car to pull over to if another car happens to come from the opposite direction. Milka explained that the village is so small that most of the people that live there are old and don’t drive, which is why up to now that small road has sufficed.
We drove about 20-30mins when we finally arrived to the top of the mountain, where the home of a woman around 70 name Ana lives by herself with her little white fluffy pup in an old vintage house. When you walk in you can feel how much history is there. I learned that her home was actually destroyed during the war and had to be rebuilt; actually most of the houses around the village had been destroyed during war.
Behind her house you find acres upon acres of land with a towering mountain that divides Croatia and Bosnia. If I were to have climbed the top of the mountain, I would be crossing into Bosnia. So literally behind her home lies a whole other country!
It was a novel experience encountering and learning about this small village. One of my favorite moments was learning and seeing the many different herbs and plants that grow in the village and on her property. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I’ve never experienced first-hand so many herbs, trees, and plants that produce many of the items I enjoy eating or smelling.
For example Elderflower, almond trees, grape trees, lemon and lime trees, lemongrass, mint, lettuce, pomegranate trees, sage, jasmine and olive trees. I mean the list just goes on and on. With a sense of wonder I smelled, touch and tasted some of these plants…
Elderflower
SAGE
When we arrived Ana had greeted us with fresh mint juice and *wow* I’ve never tasted such freshness in mint as I did that day. Ana spoke very little English but Milka would translate every now and then but not much. I remember at one point I heard Ana say America and something told me to tell her where my parents were from. I said…”Yes I’m from America but my parents are Cuban.” She smiled and her face lit up. She just kept looking at me & told Milka how wonderful she thought I was. After being there for a few minutes, without intending to I briefly tuned into her energy and I felt that she was depressed and it had something to do with her son. I didn’t dive further into the energy, I figured that perhaps her son doesn’t come to visit or they are in a fight. I let the thought go and continued to be present.
After a little while longer of us being there we head to the backyard so I can take some pictures, and then we all sat down outside for a bit. As I sat next to Ana I noticed that she kept looking at me with these eyes that both expressed a deep sadness, but a gleam of happiness to have me there. Moments after Ana tells Milka to translate to me that she’s been depressed and taking a lot of medications ever since her son died 7 years ago in a bike accident, he would have been to date 27 years old, only one year younger than me and that his dream was to visit CUBA.
Ana and her pup
Talk about being at the right place at the right time. It was no coincidence that I was there, I was meant to be there. I looked at her smiled and just hugged her. I began rubbing her back giving her my love and light energy. She keeps looking at me smiling and speaking to me in Croatia. I don’t understand much but I can feel her and soon she kisses me on the forehead and jumps up and quickly goes inside; we all follow. She heads straight to the kitchen and takes out her photo albums of her son…We sat there for a while as she shared with me her life, her son and memories.
I can’t begin to imagine the pain she must feel inside, no parent ever wants to outlive their children. I felt her sorrow – but I also felt her joy and excitement in that moment where she was able to share with me and relive those happy moments. She was so happy to have me there and just kept asking: “when would I be coming back?”
It was a true a highlight of my time spent in Dubrovnik.
Losing someone you love is never and even harder when you out live you child. I cant even begin to know the pain, that weighs upon your heart. But when you think of me remember times and let the love you have for me fill your heart, to fill your heart with enough love that you never lose your will to go on without me… When you awaken in the mornings hush, know that i am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight, i am the star that shines at night, Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die. I live on and so should you. Live, live for me. -CreatingWithin
Love,
SF
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