the Dreams

I wrote this letter to a dear friend after a multi-year gap in communications. It was always on my mind to write to her, but somehow I never did. I guess the letter was waiting for the right time to be channeled and it happened to be today.

This is a reminder to myself, and to you, if you so desire, that it’s always okay to reconnect with Beautiful Souls encountered on the journey of life.

☽

It’s been a while since I wrote this kind of letter to a friend, so thanks for the opportunity. And, first of all – HELLO!!! You can perhaps feel a wholehearted playful hugging energy arriving into your body as you read these words.

I’m sitting on a floor in a tiny wooden cabin, 3x3 meters, in the middle of a beautiful forest with a view towards the ocean surrounding this wonderful island which is my home for almost 2 years. The island is called Pico, and you can find it around 1/3 way from continental Portugal towards the US. I came here for two months during my nomadic traveling period, and never took the flight back. In fact, I’m now looking for land, whether in this island, or the neighbouring one called Faial (there are 9 islands in the Azores archipelago). It’s a wonderful place. If you ever feel like visiting, you’re more than welcome.

It’s a very particular time in my life because recently, close to the November’s Full Moon, a new cycle of my life has begun. It was not something that I expected, and it hit me suddenly without any notice, during the last night in Lisbon, before coming back to the Azores. This new cycle is about manifesting dreams.

I’ve spent the last few years learning the ropes of entrepreneurship, and it was a tough fucking ride. I really loved the freedom of traveling whenever I want, working for myself and doing something I like doing, but there was also a darker side which manifested in different ways – perfectionism, procrastination, stuckness, feeling of lacking, confusion, frustration, disappointment, disillusionment. I’ve learnt a lot through that process, and to be honest with you, I had a total blast, despite the challenges. Plus I got to travel to some amazing places. Japan, which I absolutely adored. Thailand, which changed me deeply. Edinburgh, which I revisited for a short while and experienced the contrast between my new and the old self who used to live there for seven years. I feel like Edinburgh will always be a very special place for me. A lot of the processes which are happening now started there, many years ago. Ah, and I also spent some time housesitting, which was a wonderful opportunity to stay in some exciting homes, but primarily, to connect with animals on a deeper level. Btw, around an hour ago, a cat that lives with me, Kiki, was defending the house from some forest creature, with continuous loud meowing, growling and hissing. It was kinda scary and hilarious at the same time. She’s quite a character. I guess all cats are.

Let me tell you about Dreams.

I’ve spent this summer living in a forest, with a dear friend as a neighbour. She’s a Lithuanian forest witch and a beautiful soul. Being in between the trees right on the ocean cliff was a special moment in space and time. I was sinking into the forest floor every night and felt a growing awareness of what I refer to now as intuition – a feeling of what is the next action to take, that is the most beneficial for All. I’ve been tuning myself more and more to it, and whenever I can reach this deep connected state, magical things happen.

And then I went from the forest, into the city. I didn’t feel like leaving from Pico and the Forest, but I broke my front tooth earlier in May, and decided not to be a pirate for life (at least visually speaking) and replace it with a fake one, which was a complicated procedure requiring two trips to the mainland, one in June, one in September. June was the first time I was back in a city environment after over a year in an island without a single traffic light. It was shocking, especially with all the Fear creeping everywhere. And yet, I spent a lot of time dancing in public spaces, being free, and bringing a sense of hope and joy to random people who noticed me around. But I couldn’t wait to come back to Pico.

The trip in September was the most powerful journey in my life so far. After Being in the forest, I’ve been so tuned into myself, that I sunk into a deep meditative state for three weeks. It didn’t last the whole time of course, but a big chunk of it. I spent most of my waking hours walking. I would wake up, prepare cacao, have some food, and walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk for hours and hours. I often listened to Tibetan gongs as I walked, which kept me grounded and aware. I’ve spent three weeks, going back and forth (by train) between Porto, where my dental appointments were, and Lisbon, where I wanted to be on all the days in between. And then walk and walk and walk in these two cities.

As I kept walking, I opened myself to something. I’ve never experienced such an overwhelming amount of synchronicities, beautiful encounters with strangers, and moments of connection. I know that this tends to happen during travels, but this was a whole new level of abundance. I felt touched deeply, noticed numerous patterns in myself which I wasn’t aware of, and experienced some insights which reframed how I am and want to be in the world.

The final part of the trip was holding a wedding ceremony for my dear friend, who didn’t want to get married in a church, and asked me to perform the ceremony. It was magical. I’d love to do more of these in the future. If you know of someone who wants to celebrate their love, whether it’s a romantic relationship or a friendship, with a beautiful ceremony, I’m available.

Shortly after the wedding I went back to Pico, to co-host a community gathering. This is actually worth a quick intermission in between travel stories. My arrival to Pico coincided with coming across a community building framework called microsolidarity. It resonated with me a lot, and I thought – hey, let’s do it in Pico and see what happens. Well… A year later, we’ve had two gatherings, have a few community projects going, and a few more sprouting over the surface. I feel like I have family in the island, and I have a feeling I’m not the only person who feels this way. And I’ve taken a role of catalyst and documenter of this community and I’m really enjoying the process. A big dream for this lifecycle is to co-create Azores Regenerative Network, and travel between the nine islands on a sailboat and catalyse local community projects.

So… I arrive back to Pico, getting ready to host the gathering, and I have this feeling that I need to come back to the Mainland. There’s something awaiting me there. I kinda waited for an excuse and a few days later I’ve seen an invite to a tree-planting gathering in a part of continental Portugal called Alentejo, so I booked my flights for right after the Pico gathering. From one to another…

There was a good reason though.

Being in the mainland again, and it really felt like a continuation of the previous trip, but with a different flavour, made some things very clear to me:

1) There is a growing amount of people already living in a different culture. By different, I mean not part of the mess of a mainstream capitalist system that’s eating our souls and the planet. The alternative is not very clearly defined, because we’re all experimenting, and it takes time, but it’s based on love, openness, connection, living close to the land, regenerating… We feel it intuitively. It kinda makes sense that this is growing, considering the hyper pumping of fear in the last few years, and the fact that light requires darkness and vice versa. But it also makes my heart smile. The alternative we’re creating is just so much more appealing, that it’s just a matter of time. Of course, there will be some challenges and times of darkness during that time, but all we need to do is shine. The big shift has happened. I was writing about it in my recent Moonly Review, which is a practice that I do for a year now and really enjoy – every 🌑 and 🌕 I write about what’s been alive in me in this cycle and publish it. It keeps me accountable and hopefully brings some good vibes to a few people who read it. I really enjoy writing and publishing my words. I’m now experimenting with reading my letters out loud, but it’s still something very new.

2) My entrepreneurial journey disconnected me a bit from my big dreams. They were still there, but hidden, barely noticeable. It was necessary though, so I can learn how to overcome the challenges I mentioned earlier. But after encountering people who have Big, beautiful dreams and actually manifest a lot of them, I can’t help but notice that so can I. I’m not special in that sense, anyone can. It’s just the matter of finding a way.

So, the Dreams.

I’m reconnecting with the practice of writing letters, and I’d love to do it as a lifestyle. Ideally combined with walking, of course.

I’m catalysing a beautiful community in Pico, and soon beginning my work in the neighbouring islands, as I move towards co-creating an archipelago-wide network. I’m in the process of making this my paid work, which would be a bliss, although I’d do it anyway.

I’m living in a tiny house, which is not mine, but it’s a perfect opportunity to prototype my ideal living scenario – a tiny house in the middle of an agroforest, with good friends as neighbours within a walking distance. All I need is to find the land, which is already in the process.

I feel called to Brazil, so I’m co-creating a sailing trip for the next season (Nov/Dec 2022). I met some amazing people in my recent travels and it seems that we can make it happen. It’s not just about the trip, but also about promoting a different mode of travel – slower, rather than faster, and using the time in between for deep personal and relational growth that can benefit the world.

There’s still some blockage around my online journaling business, but I’m getting more clarity on that – I’d like to keep creating journaling games that help people reconnect with themselves regularly, making it easier to stay aligned and embody their values no matter the challenges that life throws at them.

I also dream of a beautiful world where all beings can thrive, and I guess, these are my tiny little roles to play in making it possible.

Dreaming is easy though. The challenge is to manifest the dreams.

But I feel that in this cycle it is all possible.

Let’s see what happens.

…

That’s a bit about what’s going on in my life right now.

Tell me what’s your world been and is like and what are the Dreams you’re manifesting!

Sending a big hug from the forest 🌳.
Michał