We said we'd only get married once. We white-lied.
Friday, Day 4 of 4, Shaman-Led Vow Renewal in Machu Picchu.
Marriage, technically defined, is a "combination or mixture of two or more elements." This is the best way to describe why it's worked and wowed us over the years. There are many different elements ("…two or more elements") that have contributed to our lasting connection.
Josh and I are very different. He's air, I'm water, he's more introverted, I'm more extroverted, he enjoys planning, I'm more spontaneous and I could go on (this trip alone was half planned and half completely left open…in fact, we didn't know we were headed to the Amazon tomorrow morning until a few days ago).
All this said, we are also so very much the same.
We love to talk, to be physically close and we enjoy creating special moments for one another on a regular basis. We also consistently let the small stuff go. We love to love those around us, to be a part of their joy and we each chase the new and find exploring very sexy, even when we happen to do it without the other person. If it helps to complete the picture, he was a Philosophy major and I minored in Hopeless Romance.
See? Different but the same.
Beyond that, as our Shaman-led ceremony highlighted on Friday, the unexplainable is just that. There's a deeper connection that's not of this world and lucky us, we were whisked away to this place (think Jetsons without all the robotic contraptions) in this shamanic ceremony.
We're so happy to have taken Nolan with us for the magical ride and to, in many ways, have toasted to the lucky Inca and Mandel number three (http://on.fb.me/1yhrwt4). It's really worked…and wowed us.
Under the hot Andean sun, the Shaman took us through vows both in Spanish and in Quechua, the endearing Inca language I mentioned in a previous sharing (http://on.fb.me/1nodwWd). We understood the beautiful Spanish words that yogi flowed, of course, and anything we didn't understand in Quechua, we felt.
The last couple years especially, I've been helping Nolan tap into that inner knowing, "that" feeling. Showing him, as much as one can, to make decisions that are in alignment with who he really is not who others want him to be. What do you *think* you should do turns into what do you *feel* in here (I point to his gut) you *want* to do? The gut comes from a place of truth and love and the mind, many times, answers from a place of fear and separation.
What he experienced in our renewal ceremony and really throughout this entire trip so far is just that ~ a feeling into, love and connection. That's all there is. This 'feeling into', love and connection grows crazy happy marriages, children into conscious, giving adults, triples businesses, feeds friendships and helps you understand all languages, even when you've never heard the words before.
Because the truth is that all languages, just like Quechua, were meant to be languages of love, of connection and support. We've made them and our words hurtful, that which cause separation, however, they were not intended to be that way. They were meant to lift one another up.
Friday was one of the more beautifully expressive days in my marriage to Josh and in my days of being Nolan's Mama. I'll end by sharing this ~
After the ceremony, Josh told both Nolan and I that the ceremony was one of the highlights of his life. With a huge smile on his face, he continued by telling Nolan that he can't wait for the next 13. Nolan stopped dancing. Huh? Just another 13? FOREVER, Papa. It's forever.
And so it is…
I hope you've enjoyed the sharing of this trip the last week. As I teach clients…it's really all connected. Life is business, business is life. They each instruct each other and when we give ourselves the permission to flow in and out of both, it all gets even more interesting…
Thank you for allowing me to share in this way and I hope it inspired you to share and express your authenticity as well…it's what we're here on this beautiful planet to practice.
Until we meet again, enjoy your business, enjoy your life!
Life is good,
