Conscious Family West Coast Tour; We’re off!

And we’re off!  We began with a weekend in Oakhurst, (gateway town to Yosemite) celebrating my nephew’s birthday with family who is lucky enough to live there.  We enjoyed their giant shady oak trees, beautiful Bass lake, a gazillion stars and family time.   L and M delighted in playing with their treasured cousins and having gotten their fill, only somewhat reluctantly climbed into the car for our next adventure…

Fields of gold, with a few oak trees sprinkled about, for loonng stretches.  This is one of my favorite places to be, in a car, moving forward, on to the next adventure, next discovery.  I love the still daydream filled place that is looking out the window, reflecting on life, simple presence in the moment…

Only with a family in a little fishbowl of a car, these moments are interrupted often, by requests, needs and sometimes whining…and on the other hand, there are curious minds asking questions, pointing out the hawks flying overhead, listening attentively to the story lines in a musical playing, recalling favorite moments of our last adventure…

Conscious Family Reminder:  Accept what is now and enter into it with gratitude for the gifts of each new moment

Slept in an RV  in Porto Bodega.  We were excited to stay in an RV for the first time.  Woke up to snuggle time in bed (an important family ritual that grounds us in travel) and reading Hans Christian Andersen’s the Fir tree.  It is a tender story of a young fir tree who is unhappy because he cannot wait to be big, and go out into the world, then when he does and his life is ending he realizes that he was actually happy as a child, but did not appreciate it.  It is a story that sinks in with many implications for both young and old to reflect on…and it is a perfect beginning for this adventure. Drink it in. Drink it in… Happiness is here now.

We journeyed along the Northern Coast of California through Jenner, Point Arena and Mendocino, stopping way too many times to admire and breathe in the loveliness.

Stopping in Jenner, Lucas calls frightened, “Don’t get too close to the edge!” It takes me a minute to move past the irration of being pulled at to realize he is pulling me away from the edge.

Conscious Family Reminder:  So tender, this love, this dependence, this sacred gift we have of caring for them and how much they need us too.  Recognize how aware they are of their dependence/vulnerability and let it soften your heart.

Point Arena, Sean reminds me to turn struggle into play with a race instead of an urging to walk to the lighthouse… there are so many ways to get to where we want to go, why not choose fun? Not from a place of tricking children to get what we want, but from a conscious understanding that there are many opportunities for delight in each moment.

Conscious Family Reminder:  Children know joy. It is who they/we are and we can let their delight lead us back to what we also know and simply forget in the busyness and overwhelm of life.

As we drive, we try to stay as old school as possible, using  ‘entertainment’ only in spurts and engaging L and M in conversation, games, songs and stories to make the most of this time when we can give them our undivided attention and enjoy the act of discovery together.

As we were preparing for this trip, we had many people mention car DVD’s and other forms of helping the children tune out the drive.  But we are not journeying to tune out, we are journeying to feel the vibrance of all of life, around us, within us and with each other.

Even when we do play a story or listen to a musical, we are all enjoying it and engaging in it.  I have found that since starting this blog, the theme “conscious family adventure” has already made significant shifts, reminding me that the journey is the experience.  So often in our haste, in all of life, we throw distractions out at our children (and ourselves), to try to make it to a particular destination or “better” moment …

Conscious Family Reminder:  Take it slow and enjoy the journey;  every little step along the way, each passing car, person, moment;  different landscapes, towns, housing developments, even the ivy growing on a freeway overpass, the world and all of its creations are wondrous.

Such as….

The rugged coast here in Northern Cal.  It reminds me at times of the coasts off Ireland and in the foggier stretches, Scotland.  Filled with gratitude to be near such beauty.  

Another long day of driving, and we are winding through the redwood forest.  Just as I am wondering if this is too much for L and M, Maya says “I like to drive sometimes on windy roads because they have beautiful trees beside them”  Such wisdom and connection.

At the end of an evening as we drove back to our KOA kabin, Lucas and Maya were talking about how it would be great if you could pray and make things not happen.  It began with, not falling out of the bunk  (that Maya was excited to sleep in but also fearful she may fall out), then “Yeah! Yeah! What about not having nightmares!” and then “or that Millie (our adolescent hen) had never died.”  Then Maya said, “Yeah, and that there would be no wars!” adding with emphasis, “War is NOT okay.”  Then she said, “I want to have a thing at our house where people come over and we all say, “War is not okay.”  You are all invited when we return :)

These tall redwoods speak the name of God.  Their majesty, strength and gentle, peaceful presence.  Standing still in rows and clusters blessing us with their simple presence, grace and comfort, offering glimpses of the magnitude of Divine love all around us… this presence is palpable..and only a glimpse…the power of God is manifest in the amazing intricacies and miracles of nature and yet, we can still scarcely name its grandness…

Conscious Family Reminder: Let the redwoods (and all of nature) remind us of the grace, peace and flow inherent in all life; our personal growth, our children’s growth and the growth of our family.  May we stand proudly, gently, without striving, confidently, rooted in the knowing that the sun will shine on us, the earth will sustain us and we will all grow in our own Divine design.