I am inspired by a great friend of mine who has the courage to make an incredible journey and goal for himself, follow through, and listen and change it when the people he cares about ask him to stop.  My friend Garrett took it upon himself to walk a pilgrimage from his hometown in Vista, CA in San Diego county all the way up to Portland Oregon.  I am floored by his incredible goal and his commitment to this journey as he’s been walking since June to make his way north as what he calls “a journey without and a journey within”.  He spent most of the walk without even a sleeping bag and has slept many of his nights on the streets and eating canned food as he finds it.  Garrett is a gentle soul whom I have always looked to for guidance in unconditional love.  He’s housed many homeless men in his home and has an unstoppable lifelong devotion to being in service to the planet.  He met with me last night after over 300 miles of walking since June and told me about his decision to stop his journey. 

Garrett is beginning his training to become a friar for Saint Frances.  During his plan for this journey his advisor requested that he not walk the pilgrimage in concern for his safety and in need of his services elsewhere.  Garrett told me how he felt conflicted around wanting to make the trek, and knowing how powerful the journey is for him… and also respecting and honoring the request of his supervisor.  Garrett chose to obey his advisor’s wishes and concluded his journey in the middle of California, not reaching his goal to reach Portland and travel through the Missions.

What especially inspires me about Garrett’s story is actually his ability to be open-minded while being focus on his goal.  I typically witness in myself a drive that gets so strongly intent on the outcome of my goal that I never look up or take into consideration any other input or any change in direction.  I admire Garrett for his ability to walk with selflessness, and then him stopping and releasing his personal goal to be in service where people ask of him.

A beautiful winter day. We had several guests yesterday and one stayed over.  He so appreciated the community here and loved the farm. It was so fun to see him helping Matthew prune all the fruit trees with their stocking caps pulled down over their ears. 

We put up a swing for our granddaughter Kate and what fun it was to hold onto her and teach her how to move her legs to swing herself. Childhood memories are precious! (see picture of Kate standing on top of woodchip pile at the farm)