Intention for Peace & Joy
Many of you have asked about my recent stint in South Africa. I must admit, 27 days is a LONG time to be away from my husband, cats, friends, and clients. I've been finding it hard to wrap words around my experience over this lengthy duration. So, I'm offering a snippet now, and hope to share more as the experience integrates within.
A peaceful sunset at the Dell Cheetah Centre
Before embarking on my second South African adventure, I set a clear intention for myself. My definition of an intention: a desired "Feeling" experience. When I bring focus to the emotion, I free myself from attachment to how that may happen. I zero in on the clarity of my desired feeling, and send my request into the universe, surrendering control of the outcome. Again and again, I've learned, it is in this unknown space where the magic happens, and I felt eager for it!
My trip intention: to experience a greater sense of peace than I had ever known, in addition to an abundance of fun and joy. I'd received a bit of prophecy about this trip prior to departing. The essence of which was this: "You will experience your feelings more intensely than you have before. And while intense, they will also move through you with ease - you won't get stuck in them." I didn't know what this meant, but I filed it away, and allowed the unfolding.
My beautiful friend, Estelle Kemp
From the moment my friend, Estelle, the founder of the Dell Cheetah Centre, picked me up, the laughter started (I tried getting in the wrong side of the car). This was the first time we'd seen each other since we formed our friendship when I volunteered in 2015. Estelle kindly picked me up on an abnormal arrival day at my hotel (rather than requiring me to meet her at the airport as all other volunteers must). As a result of her generosity, when we exited the hotel parking lot and Estelle searched for the turn toward the Centre, we swiftly found ourselves touring the exterior of a local industrial park, because "Oops! That wasn't our turn!" We just giggled like school girls, happy to be reunited after a long summer apart.
While I did not see Estelle every day, all of my time with her was delicious. Laughter consistently nourished every conversation. No matter the seriousness of the topic - and, as my friend, real talk is essential - a sprinkle, a dollop, or a splashy bucket of joy always seasoned our interactions. She decided our friendship motto must be, "A day without laughter is a day wasted." It fits us well, as the many other volunteers and staff, who witnessed us together, will attest - often to both their surprise and dismay. They just thought we were having too much fun - ha!
The Dell volunteer program runs on a schedule, with typical arrival on the 1st or 15th of the month, and a minimum two week stay. Since I was granted permission to begin off-schedule, I met people cycling out, and in, and out, and in - very different from my last experience. For me, this meant meeting many more people. And since I'm not such a social butterfly, I felt lasting gratitude for my eight-day Grand Canyon adventure, which forced me to meet and spend time with 40+ travelers. By comparison, sharing space, meals and duties with up to nine other bodies at a time, seemed easy. Little did I realize how pleasurable it would also be!
Part of 2nd volunteer group
Besides my visits with Estelle, joy visited in little ways, everyday. Silly conversations or amusement about things we'd witness while working, and sharing the differences from culture to culture. This included the blushing titters of my 18 year-old friend, Jilly, whenever anyone would refer to "pants." It turns out, in England, "pants" equal "underpants," and she couldn't help but react with a brief fit of chortling every time. I enjoyed this process of getting to know each person well enough to gently tease and laugh at myself and one another. The big and unexpected fireworks of joy exploded when we played games! Win or lose, games are fun for me, so I brought one along, but...I could not have anticipated the fullness of pure delight.
While on the AZ rafting trip, I befriended a lovely couple who introduced me to the game, Rummikub. Have you ever played? It's completely addictive and great fun, even when I lost over and over and over again! I might have won one out of my first 20 games, and I'm pretty sure that's because my friend, Heidi, "let" me win. She doesn't admit it, but I'm convinced.
Well, I couldn't imagine being without Rummikub for 27 days, so I brought it with me to South Africa. I figured at least one other person might be up for learning a new game. And while I did teach one or two people, most knew how to play; they just recognized the game by a different name, depending upon what country they haled from. So, nearly every night the dining room became the site of much cursing, laughter, and concentration, as players cycled in and out to give others a chance (only four players at a time). I was in heaven! And miracle of miracles, I even got onto a six game winning streak - I finally found my Rummikub stride.
On a brutally cold Sunday, after morning duties, Alesia, one of the Rummikub regulars from Australia, challenged the group to a different game: Telestrations. Eight of us played...for hours! Each person begins with small pieces of blank paper, equal to the number of folks playing. So, I sat with my eight slips of paper and a pen, waiting to be inspired.
Next, each person writes down a sentence. My first was, "Hardus dancing on the table." Hardus is the daily operations manager of the Cheetah Centre, and while he generously provided us with plenty of paper, he refused to play the game with us. I figured this would be a fun way to include him. Once each person has written a phrase, the entire small pile of paper is passed to the person on the left.
This meant, my neighbor at the table had the daunting task of reading my prose and drawing her version of Hardus dancing on a table. When she did her best, she passed the entire pack of papers, with only her drawing visible on top, to the next player, who would then write what they saw in the picture. It's kind of a Telephone Line meets Pictionary game, and far funnier!
To give you a sense of how the game goes, my friend, Justine, wrote, "Joanne promotes Rummikub to the world." When the pile of papers completed the circle of the table, Justine shared the progression, which had us all in stitches. Drawing, explanation, drawing, repeat...the original statement morphed into: "A monkey in bed screaming in pain," with many hilarious images to evidence this truth. I wish I'd photographed some of them, but I was so in the moment, that I made no attempt to capture and hold the moment. I simply surrendered to the enormous joy of being.
On this day, I laughed until I cried...until the door to the TV room was shut tight against our raucous howling...until my face and stomach muscles hurt...and then I laughed some more. The intensity of that joy amazes me still. It's as though someone turned up the volume on joy to a degree I hadn't known before. I'm not sure that this is true, but it certainly surged through me like a torrent of welcome electricity - lighting me up brightly, and loving every moment of it.
Before embarking, I didn't know how my intention might manifest. I'd released that power to the universe, and allowed myself to be present with whatever came. And, I discovered a resulting feeling of peace that followed the intensity of that joy, completely new to me. It's as though I'd been given a joy enema, and with the last of the tears wiped away, the empty space filled with peace. I feel a thread of it now, just remembering. It's a part of me, and I welcome it, however it may come.
With this new year, may you, too, experience new depths peace and joy.
With love,
Joanne Lutz