Power of intention

I'm a huge believer in the power of intention. Since I've been little I have always known things were going to happen in my life no matter how great or small. How, when, or where they would happened, I never questioned, asked, or gave much thought to, but I knew in my heart of hearts that they would come true.

I started thinking about this earlier today when I considered doing a '2009 Best Of' as today's blog post. With everything that happened this year form my first solo tribal performance in October, Obama's inauguration in January, my trip to Mexico with the OCA in August, seeing my family in France in July, going to a vegan b&b with the love of my life for our anniversary, there was so much to pick from!... But one thing that stuck in my mind, and that was my trip to Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef for New Year 2009.

Here's the story: I've always had a very strong opinion on drugs/drinking. When I was about 13 or 14 or something, my sister and I made a bet that I would never smoke a cigarette, try drugs, or drink to the point of ridiculousness/passing out. Of course, she thought I could never do it; after all, don't all teens and university students experiment at some point or another? I swore to her I wouldn't, though I could still live the high life of a college/high school student.

We had to set a time limit to this bet of course, so we established that it would end when I was 25. That seemed like a reasonable time to the both of us, given that if ever I was going to try any of those things it would be at least before then. As a reward, I'd always been a huge fan of Australia (for no concrete reason I can think of), so the deal was, if I could hold on to my end of the bargain, in whatever means possible, she would take me there. How a 27 year old would be able to pay for 2 round-trip tickets and a vacation to Australia, we had no idea. But she promised. And I believed it would happen somehow. Sounds good no?

I have to admit, as the years went on, I did drink but had fun on moderate to serious buzzes, but not passing out or unconsciousness stupidness included. I can get high on life and don't mind people doing there own thing if I'm there, I'm no zealot. Given that you can life life to its fullest by just being, who needs anything else? Like I said, I'm certainly not a saint, nor do I wish to associate myself with the people who cling to the 'my body is a temple' standpoint (though I agree with that given my diet and lifestyle).

Anyway, fast-forward about 8 years later: it's December 27, 2008, I'm 22, have never smoked/sniffed/injected anything into my body, and there I was landing at the Sydney International Airport thinking 'Oh My God, I can't believe I'm here'. Why? Because my sister, who always thought she'd stay in the US or Europe her whole life, ended up doing her MA in Sydney for a year. After a silly childhood bet, but still with that promise that I'd get to Australia before I was 25 in the back of my mind, she did bring me there in the end. We both kept our end of the bargain, and I got to spend an amazing 10 days with her in the land of Auz as a result. I mean really, what were the odds that she would take me there in that way and this would actually happen at all? Belief. It doesn't have to be conscious but I always knew.

The universe is an incredible thing. That's just one example of the millions of ways the power of intention has manifested itself in my life from meeting Andrew early as I did and being swept off my feet instantly, to continuing dance in some form my whole life like I'd always wanted, to getting into the schools/jobs/internships I've always wanted at some point, to being the person I want to be both physically and emotionally, the list goes on and on and on. That creates such excitement for the rest of my life, knowing with that same certainty that all the things I've always wanted will come true eventually sometimes much sooner than I'd ever thought they would.

If I can say one thing to make this work for you, your intentions have to be pure. No demands, no details, no begging, no eventually thinking you don't deserve what you want, etc. Just know, and just be open to the idea that it will happen. Obviously don't just sit around waiting for your life to be the way you want it to be, you do have to do your share of the work, but for the most part, it's that beautiful combination of you and the universe, working in ways you didn't even dream were possible.