I’m back from my travel to Portugal and boy oh boy, are there stories to tell. :)
But first, how are you? How has your summer been?I’d love to hear from you.
On August 3rd, I boarded a train in Lisbon headed for Castelo Branco. I had been told by one of the festival organizers that I would know I was on the right train because everyone will look like they were going to a festival. Backpacks, carefree clothing, big smiles and music. She was right. The variety of people that I watched board the train made for some very interesting people watching. Little did I know that people watching would become my favorite past-time over the next 7 days.
I quickly made friends with some women from Germany and we chatted most of the way. All the languages around me were either German, French or Portuguese, all sharing the same excitement of getting to the festival.
Once we arrived at the festival site, it felt like such a union of likeminded souls. Here we were, gathered, practically in the middle of nowhere, all for the same reasons - to dance, to sing, to swim, to grow, to connect and to interact peacefully with each other for 7 days.. The fact that 50,000 people were able to do this without a single speck of police presence is remarkable. The theme for the week circled around:
We are one.
Country flags were prohibited because that can cause rivalry, even if it’s friendly. The message is that we are all humans looking to lead a life of meaning, fuelled by love. Now I don’t want you to get the idea we were all holding hands, singing Kumbaya the whole time….it was much more than that….
If you can picture almost like a little city complete with a supermarket, restaurant area, homes (tents!), shopping (local artists) and more. On each day, you could choose to go to a yoga or meditation class in the morning and then see an interesting lecture in the afternoon before you got your dance on in the evening. I preferred the early mornings and was often packing it in before the all-night dancing began but there was one night where the moon was out in full and dancing on the beach for 3 hours straight to a live DJ seemed like the perfect thing to do. :) The days were really hot so swimming in the big lake became my siesta and let’s just say, if you were wearing a bathing suit, you were in the minority. Haha.
I’ll be sharing again about my adventure to Portugal (and working as a Couple’s Therapist!) but I’d like to give you your coaching exercise for the week.
COACHING EXERCISE FOR YOU
Think of an area of your life where you feel your mind has shifted but you still behave the same way. For example, you may have a new perspective on recycling, but yet you still don’t recycle. You may have a new perspective on guns and war but you still allow your kids to play war-themed video games. This week, put some action behind any area where your mind has shifted but your behaviour hasn’t. Then TELL ME ABOUT IT! :) I would love to know what you are taking on.
I’d love to hear your thoughts so be sure to leave a comment below. :)
To your authenticity,
Love, Christine