There are a lot of things in life that don't matter. Yet, most
of us spend hours every day consumed by meaningless activities. I wish
I were wrong about this. But think about where all your time goes and
then honestly say you are actively living your life the way you want to.
I have lived in Hickory, NC since 1991 when I moved here with
my husband after graduating from Virginia Tech. In 1996, my fourth
child was born. A month later, my husband Mike came home from work and
asked me if I wanted to move to Germany. Looking back, I'm not sure
what we were thinking, but at the time it sounded like a fun adventure.
So within six months, we officially moved to a tiny town in Northern
Bavaria called Ebersdorf, where we lived for the next three years.
Our lives are not random. They are not
accidental. They are not meant to become meaningless.
Once we settled into our new routines, I noticed how much more
time I had than when we lived in the States. There wasn't a play group
or kids story time or even TV in a language that I could understand.
There was just me and my family and a lot of down time. Maybe too much.
Clinically speaking, there were multiple times that year I met criteria
for depression. Depression is hard to explain to people who have never
experienced it. For me, I had all the stuff that was supposed to make
me happy but I felt a nagging emptiness inside.
So I decided to take a look at my life and where I was headed.
I used the nature and the solitude that surrounded me as a type of
therapy. I started to jog on the trails through the woods that
connected one town to another near us. I began fasting and meditating.
I read over a dozen books by mystics who had consciously chosen to
retreat from the world. Demons buried inside ourselves rarely surface
when our lives are occupied by all the things that don't matter.
Germany became my spiritual desert.
But that is another story.
When we returned to Hickory in 1999, I knew I couldn't go back
to all my previous distractions. I didn't want to run away from the
world but I did want to retain the lessons and the peace I had found.
And I wanted to share my experience with others stuggling to find
meaning in a world that often seems meaningless. So I talked to Mike
about selling our building lot in a nice neighborhood, and I started to
look for land and a new home. By the end of summer, we became the
owners of a small but cozy house and some neglected land. Sitting 700
feet down a gravel drive and hidden behind a field of brush, both the
house and the land were sadly needing love and attention.
Over ten years have gone by and much has changed. Those little kids we took
to Germany are now almost grown up. And after rock picking, weed
pulling and many other forms of old fashioned hard work, a peaceful
25-acre retreat that we call Mystic Ridge exists on the property.
Situated on the outskirts of Hickory, NC, it is a home and a farm that
serves as a model of a purposeful way to live. It has wooded trails,
vegetable and landscape gardens and a peaceful river that beckons the
soul to rest, heal and grow.
So if you find yourself weary and looking for something more
in life, take the time to slow down and look where you're going. A
whole different world is waiting for you to wake up and discover it.
