The imprint of Bali, and the end of an incredible year long journey.

Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing.....
There is a field.....I'll meet you there -

The ever so masterful poet - RUMI

On this last day in Bali, as we pack up our belongings and head to the airport, I wonder about wrong doing and right doing. As we return to our life, and unpack all that we have been through and witnessed this past year........

We set out from our home port in Ventura California one year ago with a two year plan to explore the sea. But.....due to family dynamics, we are calling it good after one year. And what a year it has been.......

After almost two months of living and breathing in Bali, this culture, and these people, have left such a huge imprint on my heart. I now know why I was so pulled to travel to Bali. I have been blessed by healers and holy water, sat knee to knee with a 9th generation Medicine Man, I have witnessed devotion, and prayer, and God like never before. My yoga practice has found new roots to ground into and explore, while doors have busted wide open in my mind and heart. Clarity surrounds me with a sense of calm and peace, and a knowing that life is fleeting.....which keeps me craving to love more, to do better, to be better. I have never felt so alive.

This entire past year has instilled a huge sense of gratitude for everything in my life back home.

It has been a hard, and amazingly beautiful year. I have learned so much about living simply, and going without. I have made many new friends who have also left huge imprints on my heart. While connections came and went, due to the transient nature of sailing, they were bonds that will never be forgotten.

And now my gratitude list unfolds..... to my sister Shelley, for taking care of our cats, Summer and Winter, and for loving them as you did......... Michael and Mary, for taking care of our home and helping us in so many ways. We could not have done this trip without you, ........Jessica, thank you for traveling to Bali to see me, and for always showing up at the right time in my life, and always knowing the right thing to say...or not to say. Our visit to Ketut is a memory I will hold forever as we each live a long beautiful life, and travel together again one day!...... Lara, thank you for commenting on every blog post. Your support during this journey was so important to me. Reading your words in the middle of the ocean with nothing but water for days.....always made my heart happy and connected.......Natalie, thank you for taking care of Blake. I don't know how this year would have gone without you in his life.......Steve and Mo, thanks for crewing and for your support during the death of my father when we hit Mexico's water. I surely would have gone mad had you not been there.....actually I did go mad, so thanks for not holding that against me, and offering me your love during this painful time, ......to my Neighborhood Yoga family and friends, thank you for not forgetting about me, and for returning to your mat with me....the week of Sept, 19th!!!!. I have missed teaching you yoga more then words can express....... Last, but certainly not least, Alex and Blake, thank you for understanding this dream, and supporting my physical absence from your life this past year. Being so far away from you was the hardest thing I had to endure. I love being your mom. It is the best thing I have done with my life so far, and I am grateful for you every day of my life.

So this is it. As I close this blog, and prepare to return to a life of doing on solid familiar ground. I am sure I will look back on this year and the gazillion photos I took, and it will be remembered with a longing to return to the sea.......and with a wondering of what could have been had we sailed for another year.

But.....out beyond wrong doing and right doing....there is this beautiful place in Thousand Oaks California.......I will meet you there with my arms wide open.

Xxxooooxxxxoooo








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