Why did I write this book? Firstly, because I was called to. You see when I get an idea, I jot it down and then let it go for a bit. If it keeps coming into my mind and my heart, then I know it is mine to share in whatever form is asked of me. In that context, I have published Equine Leadership magazine for eight years simply because the idea stayed with me, and I stayed with it. Some ideas come and go. Some come, sit dormant for a while, then pop back into existence to be elaborated on and evolve with me, either to fruition or just a short visit. Perhaps the idea moves from person to person. Each person evolving it just a bit for the next person. Who knows? But this idea was super clear from the moment it entered my heart. Write this into existence! Write the vision into existence! What better way to share, find collaborative partners and bring it into reality. Keeping it to myself is exactly what I had done. This is a vision to build a brighter world, it has to be done together. This is much bigger and will last much longer than just one person.
And so, I am writing the vision that was shared with me over three decades ago, into existence. It wasn’t an idea. It was a vision. A gift. A map of what it looked and felt like. But what was missing was the X on the larger map of its location. An X marking the spot.
Thirty years ago, I was living on our family farm. A lovely equestrian facility that was busy and joyful. A sanctuary of sorts to all that shared the space with us, two-legged, four-legged, and winged. Life was full and good and right. We taught riding lessons, cared for horses that called other folks their humans, and ran community programs. Twenty-five horses called the farm home. Each week a diverse group of humans came through the barn doors to receive their dose of horse wisdom. It really was a sanctuary. Our motto: a lifestyle, a philosophy, a place where everybody can.
One night, (I don’t recall the exact year) after waking in the night and eventually drifting back into that state between awake and asleep, I was guided on a journey. It was a journey to a beautiful piece of land. It was a voyage I was never to forget. You oft forget dreams, but you never forget visions and that is what this was. A vision. A place that over the years would offer me sanctuary in my mind and my heart. A space in times of need for my body and my soul. A land that would offer me wisdom, security, and joy. Time spent there was both present and future and past all in the same moment.
I have memories from those thirty years of times spent on this land in meditation and deep thought. Time spent with my future self and time spent with family members that have since left this earthly space. I have visions of my future life on this land. Many visions, and all in vivid detail. I know this land so well by now that I understand every inch of it. I know what it feels like, sounds like, looks like and smells like. I know where every piece of furniture sits in the house, and I know the swing of every gate and creak of every board. I know my favourite spot to sit on the porch and the view I get at that spot. At anytime, I can close my eyes and immediately be on the land, in the house or on the porch. I can be in the fields, on the cliffs or at the beach. All it takes is a heartbeat to be there. This land and I are meant to meet in person and when we do, we will have known each other for decades and we will both be home.
There have been many times over the last three decades when I have wondered if this land is only for my imagination. Is it only space for my soul, never to be touched by my hands, or feel the rhythm of my step? There have been times when I have envisioned it daily and times when I have let it all go.
That old saying: If you love something set it free. If it comes back to you, it’s yours. If it doesn’t it was never meant to be. What if you set it free but it just never leaves?
This is the story of the future and the present. I am not sure how it will find form. If I wait until it is ‘finished’ then it might never find existence because it was never shared. I thought it might find itself in several parts. Turns out it all wanted to come out at once. It decided to flow onto the page as a whole.
This is the story of a vision of a horse farm, a holistic sanctuary for all living beings that land upon it. As I start to write I ponder the fact that what I thought might be a horse story is more of a life story. An autobiography of sorts. A book with so much wisdom within its pages. Wisdom from the horses, myself and from those that I have shared time and space with along the journey.
To be truthful here, I have no idea where this land is, geographically. I know it faces with the ocean to the west. That is all. The rest has not been shared with me yet. But I will know it when I see it, recognize it when I step foot upon it. My heart and soul will realize the vision. ~*~
And so, I am writing the vision that was shared with me over three decades ago, into existence. It wasn’t an idea. It was a vision. A gift. A map of what it looked and felt like. But what was missing was the X on the larger map of its location. An X marking the spot.
Thirty years ago, I was living on our family farm. A lovely equestrian facility that was busy and joyful. A sanctuary of sorts to all that shared the space with us, two-legged, four-legged, and winged. Life was full and good and right. We taught riding lessons, cared for horses that called other folks their humans, and ran community programs. Twenty-five horses called the farm home. Each week a diverse group of humans came through the barn doors to receive their dose of horse wisdom. It really was a sanctuary. Our motto: a lifestyle, a philosophy, a place where everybody can.
One night, (I don’t recall the exact year) after waking in the night and eventually drifting back into that state between awake and asleep, I was guided on a journey. It was a journey to a beautiful piece of land. It was a voyage I was never to forget. You oft forget dreams, but you never forget visions and that is what this was. A vision. A place that over the years would offer me sanctuary in my mind and my heart. A space in times of need for my body and my soul. A land that would offer me wisdom, security, and joy. Time spent there was both present and future and past all in the same moment.
I have memories from those thirty years of times spent on this land in meditation and deep thought. Time spent with my future self and time spent with family members that have since left this earthly space. I have visions of my future life on this land. Many visions, and all in vivid detail. I know this land so well by now that I understand every inch of it. I know what it feels like, sounds like, looks like and smells like. I know where every piece of furniture sits in the house, and I know the swing of every gate and creak of every board. I know my favourite spot to sit on the porch and the view I get at that spot. At anytime, I can close my eyes and immediately be on the land, in the house or on the porch. I can be in the fields, on the cliffs or at the beach. All it takes is a heartbeat to be there. This land and I are meant to meet in person and when we do, we will have known each other for decades and we will both be home.
There have been many times over the last three decades when I have wondered if this land is only for my imagination. Is it only space for my soul, never to be touched by my hands, or feel the rhythm of my step? There have been times when I have envisioned it daily and times when I have let it all go.
That old saying: If you love something set it free. If it comes back to you, it’s yours. If it doesn’t it was never meant to be. What if you set it free but it just never leaves?
This is the story of the future and the present. I am not sure how it will find form. If I wait until it is ‘finished’ then it might never find existence because it was never shared. I thought it might find itself in several parts. Turns out it all wanted to come out at once. It decided to flow onto the page as a whole.
This is the story of a vision of a horse farm, a holistic sanctuary for all living beings that land upon it. As I start to write I ponder the fact that what I thought might be a horse story is more of a life story. An autobiography of sorts. A book with so much wisdom within its pages. Wisdom from the horses, myself and from those that I have shared time and space with along the journey.
To be truthful here, I have no idea where this land is, geographically. I know it faces with the ocean to the west. That is all. The rest has not been shared with me yet. But I will know it when I see it, recognize it when I step foot upon it. My heart and soul will realize the vision. ~*~
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