“I wonder who benefits more from this, me or my horse”, I thought to myself the other day, as I wandered back from the horse pasture. You see I had just been out spending some time with my horse Rusty. Just fun things like grooming him and then giving him treats. We’re building quite a relationship, him and me. It all started last year when I announced to my husband, Bob that I had moved to Montana to be a Cowgirl and I didn’t even have a horse! The search began and soon we found the perfect horse for me, an eight year old Tobiano Paint Gelding (for you Non-cowgirls and Non-cowboys, it’s a really pretty horse like Little Joe’s on Bonanza!) We rode some a little last year, but not much, not enough.
I realize now that I had been waiting for the “Cowgirl Goddess” to come in the middle of the night, and knock me over the head, so I would wake up a Real Live Cowgirl! Well, not so. Thank goodness! No, to be a real cowgirl requires much more time and effort. And what a blessing and journey it is turning out to be! As the author Susan Richards puts it “Having a horse means your life has been touch
touch by a beautiful mystery.” And so it has been.
I also got this really great saddle. You know more of the Crown Victoria Cadillac kind, built for comfort, not speed. An old cowboy once told me “You need to have enough room in your saddle for you and your fear.” And I get that, but now, the more time I spend with my horse, I would change that to say “you need to have enough room in your saddle for you and your love”!
I was just reading about Jane Goodall the scientist who spent her whole life studying Chimpanzees. Her favorite toy when she was young was a stuffed monkey, of course! I was encouraged to look into my own childhood, to look for that same foreshadowing, the seeds of magic that I should seek to ripen. For me one of my special memories was in Tennessee going horseback riding. You can imagine how special it is to have my horse now. Yes, I’m middle aged, or so they tell me, and no I will never ever be a Champion Barrel Racer or Rodeo Team Roper, but it does not mean I cannot be a “Real Cowgirl”!
So here’s my encouragement to you. Look into your childhood and see the seeds of magic that have been waiting for you.
One of my other favorite childhood memories was playing dress up. My sister and I were very fortunate, to be raised by good Southern grandmothers, both women with plenty of jewelry and accessories for us to “Play Dress-up”. We couldn’t wait to get to our grandparents houses and go through their pretty things. I’m sure that was the seeds of what now has become my Montana Belle jewelry business. ‘Creating things of beauty for myself and others.
My goal now is to Play more, and Enjoy the dreams of my childhood, and Watch the seeds of destiny as they begin to sprout. Sounds really good right? Well I have a little confession to make. I have been having this problem lately with, oh let’s just call it...hoarding. No, not like the kind you see on TV. ‘Just the innocent little kind, where you don’t want to sell the really pretty jewelry pieces that you make.
I know its weird right? Um, this is supposed to be a business right? But it seems like the pieces I love the most are always the ones that I sell the fastest. It should be a good thing in my mind, but somehow a few things have gotten a little mixed up. But here’s where Rusty, yes my horse, come is in. My new relationship with this beautiful 1500 pound animal has helped to turn this around in my mind and allowed me to let go. I don’t really get it, but yes, Let Go. ‘Not the easiest thing for us humans to do, especially me. Yesterday, I finished some commissioned pieces for two lovely women out in Eastern Montana. They are both beautiful women and I was thinking of how radiant they are going to look wearing their new necklaces and bracelets. I thought of the love and good energy I was fortunate enough to send them through my artwork. Somehow my work with Rusty has changed things. I don’t think of making my beautiful pieces and keeping them all to myself. I now look at it as an opportunity to create beautiful artwork and share it with these incredible women all around the world. That’s a wonderful thing.
I can’t tell you how my two childhood joys are connected, or how they work to enhance and heal each other, but they do. It’s a pretty incredible journey. So here’s my wish for all of you. Play more, Enjoy the Passions of your youth, and see what Seeds of Destiny blossom in your own lives!
