The Miracle of Changing Direction in Travel

Miracles Happen!

There was a period of time some years ago when I got into this trip of chanting the mantra “Miracles Happen!”.  I would repeat this phrase with zeal and joy all throughout the day with an affirmative “Yes, Yes, Yes!” umph behind it. After I started this practice, magical things began to unfold.  That year I saw many of my far flung dreams come true, like:

• landing a leading role in an independent film
• winning random awards and contests, including a $6,000 video contest for a regional grocery store
• attracting fabulous opportunities, including traveling in Mexico for a month for free through a Rotary Club exchange.
• attending the Travel Channel Academy in Washington D.C.

It had occurred to me that sometimes in the blink of an eye, in one moment, something could happen that would change your whole world. It could happen through a phone call, an email, or a run in with a stranger.  Random.  Suddenly, life would take an entirely different direction and put you in positions that you could never have imagined.  An evolutionary leap in the journey of life feeds the growth of your soul and stirs your sense of wonder.

Yes, it’s true, that sometimes the unexpected event that triggers transformation can be what we label as a “bad” occurrence; like the death of a loved one, an accident, or any such raw deal.  Forget those for now.  I am not talking about that yucky stuff. I speak of the groovy miracles and good news that falls on your lap and spins you in a delicious new direction. I live for those moments, because I’m one of those souls who thrives on change.

I don’t constantly chant “Miracles Happen!” the way I used to, but I have incorporated the concept into my daily attitude.  And let me tell you, bringing that awareness into your consciousness certainly seems to be the impetus for bringing more miracles into your life.

Important Announcement…

The fam has just made a switch-a-roo in a wonderful new direction!  i.e.:  The Travel Creatives project has shifted…

And it has all been unexpected…

For all of 2010, our goal was to sell our businesses and travel the world with the family.  We did just that.  The business miraculously sold when I set my mind to it, right on schedule, and we traveled to Hawaii, Ecuador, and a bit around the U.S.A. just as planned.  2011 was supposed to include a round the world journey from New Zealand, Australia, Bali, Turkey, and Europe with the whole family. If you told me last week that we wouldn’t be accomplishing this goal in 2011, I would have been crushed.

Nothing could have prepared me for the events that have transpired.

We are not going to accomplish that particular goal this year.

And that is fantabulous news…

Shouldn’t I be crushed?  NO! I am thrilled at what has been bestowed upon my family. We have been spun in a direction that I never would have imagined, and it fits perfectly into the greater vision of our dreams. I am marveled at the intelligence of the universe!

I’m building this up because I am silly and so totally jazzed.  In a one-sentenced email our lives have drastically changed. John got a job offer that we couldn’t refuse. He was offered a position as a drummer in a popular Renaissance Festival band who tours the Ren Faire circuit.

What this translates to is that we are in the process of transforming into bona fide nomadic “carnies”, gypsies, bohemians! Another far flung fantasy comes true.

We’ll be touring the following Ren Faires this year:  Arizona, Georgia, The World Steam(punk) Expo, Kansas City Scottish Highland Games, Wisconsin (Bristol), Michigan, and Texas.  It will take us on a wild ride through the end of the year, pay well, offer free rent (in our trailer), and satisfy our fetish to wear outlandish costumes.

The Surprising New Life Includes:

• loads of caravan travel (although not international)
• piles of creative people to interview
• fantastic, colorful photo opportunities
• too many stories for me to film! (I am beside myself)
• creative living that is totally in line with The Travel Creatives project.

And They Call the Band “Tartanic”

“Celtic music from Scotland, Ireland, Brittany and original contemporary compositions is melded with rhythms from around the world and propelled into the musical world of the future. Mixing the time-honored traditions of the Great Highland bagpipes with a bevy of drums featuring world percussion from Arabia, Africa and America, Tartanic produces a musical fusion which is nothing short of explosive.”

Our dear friends, Adrian Walter and Jill Anne Jack, are the leaders of this theatrical, drum heavy bagpipe ensemble, and have graciously invited our family into their fantastical world.  I’m pretty psyched to announce that John has been ordered to wear a kilt! This will be an outstanding opportunity for him to channel his Scottish ancestors and inner circus performer. John’s mother has even agreed to send him his grandpa’s actual Scottish sash, which includes his family’s tartan pattern, to embellish and validate to his costume.  How cool is that?

Funny thing:  Jill used to work for John when The Tango Tea Room first opened (the business we recently sold…).

The Foreshadowing Synchronicities…

1.  Characters and Costumes

As I mentioned in the last post, we have been working with designers for a few months to rock this site and make it unique.  We will be unveiling it in a few weeks.  The theme of the new design incorporates a whimsical “steampunk” motif. We were already playing around with costumes and characters for The Travel Creatives.  It has been fun, but I never figured it wouldn’t translate too much in reality.

Now, we are in full blown costume preparation mode.  John is working on the wild steampunk Scot ensemble, I am putting together an eclectic Mad Max Gypsy Tribal Forest Elf character, and Rain will be creating a tween-inspired steampunk dragon trainer costume.  Costumes and characters will be quite integrated into our life and work now.  That is a recipe for getting creative juices flowing. Who woulda thunk?

2.  Music:  Big Drums and Music around Scotland

While in Ecuador, John became obsessed with giant drums, like the Japanese taiko drums.  He watched tons of Youtube videos with this type of booming percussion pretty frequently and was brainstorming ways to incorporate them into the music he composes.  He also was listening to a lot of Gaelic, Nordic, and progressive bagpipe music. Yes, in Ecuador.  Well guess what?  He has been assigned to play the “tupan” drums (which are giant bass drums with Arabic origin) used in this Scottish fusion band.  Interesting…

3.  Creative Travel

Our goal with The Travel Creatives project has always been to:

• Travel as a family
• Lead a creative life on our own terms
• Featuring video mini-documentaries of creatives we meet along our journey.

This new life is perfectly in line with our goals. The beautiful thing is that I did not plan it.  It swooped us up and is taking us for a ride into the great unknown. Although we are sacrificing hardcore international travel for now, we have still been left standing with our coveted nomadic lifestyle.  Only now we can do it in character!  Plus, the job will enable us to be a traveling family much longer than we would have expected.  We are essentially being paid to travel.  I never had difficulty attracting cool, creative new friends into my life, but now it will be a mega breeze.  Plus, I will never be at a loss for rich images, colorful personalites, and topics to photograph, film, and write about.

4.  Income

Confession.  I tried to keep myself positive, but from time to time, I would fret over money. While we were on course to travel around the world, I was well aware that our venture would deplete our financial reserve by the end of the year. I had no idea how our lives would look after it was all said and done.  Would we be forced into day jobs? Where would we even live?

I chose the adventure and risk and went off the faith that the experience would reward us with some unknown opportunity. Now, I am lifted from those worries.  We are officially going to be paid to be freaky.  Hallelujah!  Although we sold our vehicles, ditched our cell phones, and discarded our home and most of our possessions in preparation for world travel, we are blessed with (1) an unused travel trailer from Dad, and (2) free basic living expenses for at least 37 weeks out of the year.

All we have to do is manifest a big truck or Suburban to pull the trailer.  Anyone have any ideas or leads?

5.  A Trip to Scotland in June

The plan all along has been to be in Scotland during the summer and host John’s mother from Ohio.  Yes, Scotland!  Too weird.  It turns out we have 3 weeks off in the summer where we can still slip into a Scottish getaway with Momma. The trip will take on a whole new meaning as John will have spent the whole year channeling his inner wild-man Scot. We will have immersed ourselves in Scottish music, culture, and hordes of Scottish groupies! It drives me nuts to fly all the way out there for just a few weeks, but such is the life of a rock star family. Ho Hum…

6.  A Social Media Guru Job Manifests

The importance of social media has been on my personal radar for the last year as I began swimming in the world of the blogosphere for the first time.  I’m new to it, but I really enjoy what blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube can do to distribute creativity and information. I oftentimes would tell John that I would really dig a job being the social media guru for a “company” or “product”.  Of course, I’m using it for The Travel Creatives, and I would be just fine just doing that full time!  But TTC is new, so I’m starting from scratch.  It will take a bit of perseverance to raise the stats of my project.

Now, I have offered my services to Tartanic to take on their social media face.  In addition to building The Travel Creatives, I will now be handling the band’s internet presence.  The band members are swamped with so many details of keeping a band together, so I’m going to step in and help spread the Tartanic love.  I’ve been told that I could even create a paying job (in time).  It’s destined to be a family affair!  I love working on projects, and the band already has a longevity of 8 years and a fanbase. Jumping in at this point will lead to exciting results.  Upping the social media communication between the band and the fans should be a blast and immediately be well received.  Isn’t amazing how everything has just fallen into place?

It’s Time to Make Your Miracles Happen

Enough about me.  :)  What about you??

Start now, today, repeating the mantra “Miracles Happen!” with fortitude!

Most people should find it easy to believe, because if you think about it, every day we really do experience millions of tiny miracles; from how our bodies work, to electricity, to the internet, to the love we experience with our friends and family.  My favorite little miracle to acknowledge is a hot, yummy shower at the turn of  dial.  I don’t have to worry about it.  I can just enjoy it.  Then there are all the miracles in between…

If you start from that knowing and repeat this phrase with that certainty, I promise that you will experience something extraordinary very soon.  Once you internalize the meaning of this mantra into your waking life you can then kick back and enjoy all the miracles that start pouring in.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Tell me about your miracles! I’d love to hear them.

Happy Manifesting, and see you at the Faire!

Tagged as: bagpipes, Ecuador, hawaii travel, manifesting, miracles, miracles happen, ren faires, round the world, scotland, scottish, steampunk, tartanic, travel, travel blog