Woman in a Yurt Video Diary 25 – One Door Closes

My challenge is complete! It was the very best of adventures. One I’d recommend to anyone who either feels like they’ve lost the sense of themselves, wants to get a deeper connection with their own resourcefulness and/or wants to open up to the immeasurable magic of being immersed in nature. I had my challenges…this was not such a simple experiment…but that’s part of what makes it such a rewarding one.

I am not the ‘me’ who arrived at the yurt filled with trepidation on 10th November 2015. I am a more full and vibrant version of ‘me’. Over the winter I had a moment by moment love affair with the land around me, the wildlife, the farm-life and the array of elementals and nature spirits. I began to love the dark, to experience it like some glossy velvet creature which wrapped its arms benevolently around my valley.

Instead of the ‘worst snow for 50 years’ heralded throughout Facebook we got the wettest and wildest weather for almost forever. I got to know the personality of the different storms, these magnificent untameable beasts, which swept through Powys and took us close to half way through the alphabet. However intimidating the storm became I was held in the womb of my yurt, safe and snug. Living in the round has a special energy to it which can’t be replicated in a square, no matter how muddy it gets outside.

I learned that nature is loving. I learned the sheer delight of building a crackling good fire in the log burner to chase away the cold, chatting amicably with this dancing animal made of flames. I learned that just because the solar fairy lights above my bed are considered inanimate, I can still relate to them as if they’re fully alive. I discovered a different painting outside my door each morning as the valley donned a new suit of clothes depending on the light. My entire panorama was a blessing to appreciate in every single second of my day.

I learned to live without electricity, gas, running water and plumbing. I learned I need far less than I ever thought, and that it’s not ‘less than’, in any negative sense because it re-introduced me to a deeper connection with the real web of life.

I reached out my tentacles and found an unexpected wonderful embracing community around this little market town of Llanidloes. My heart has been filled to over-flowing. Llani, as they call it round here, is a love-based place… You can always tell when hearts turn up where you least expect them.

Now I’m in a teeny weeny caravan discovering the magic of a new valley just the other side of town and developing the next challenge to inspire my heart.