I’d been in California nearly two months, and still no job. I’d pounded pavement every day, applied at every spa, schmoozed with every chiropractor, and even joined a temp agency—but temp money wasn’t paying the bills. What was left of the savings I’d earned from the sale of my home back in the Midwest was dwindling like the sand in the Wicked Witch of the West’s hourglass, and I was even more terrified than Dorothy.
One Sunday, when the stress was taking its toll on my body, a voice inside said, “Get the hell out of this apartment and go play! Go and explore your new home while you have the chance!”
Of course—the mountains! I hadn’t yet seen the mountains. Ever since moving to my new city, where one could enjoy both the sea and mountains, I'd been taking beach walks and gazing up at the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara, wondering what they looked like up close. The Santa Ynez area was part of a wider California range with the same name as my Italian grandfather, Rafael, so I asked him to be my special spirit guide as I donned my trail shoes and embarked on a solo hike.
It's amazing how every time I thought I was going to have to do something all by myself there, people showed up in my life so that I wasn’t really alone. I met up with a couple (he was a naturalist in the area) who walked most of the way up the "Seven Falls" branch of Inspiration Point trail with me.
The paved fire road turned into a dirt trail, which then followed a rocky creek bed--so we hopped up boulder after boulder until we reached the many pools and swimming holes that gave Seven Falls its name.
The last swimming hole, which wasn't quite the end of the trail (the rest involved more skilled rock climbing, for which I was ill-equipped), was beautiful and refreshing after the long hot uphill climb.
This would be an excellent time to mention that I absolutely love waterfalls. And I cannot merely look at them, I have to be one with them; splash in them, jump in them and feel them all over my body. After watching a few people take an approximate 20-foot plunge down a waterfall into a 10-ft deep swimming hole below, I decided it was exactly what I needed after a long, emotionally grueling week.
One of the people there offered to take my picture. He caught it just after the plunge, but I went so quickly, all the guy got was the splash.
The plunge wasn't just invigorating, it was a spiritual experience. It seemed to clear a lot of negative energy that resulted from the difficult week--and I felt it was a "nature baptism" into my new life here...filling me with renewed hope that all would work out.
And now for the synchronicity...
As I started back down the trail, dripping wet and squishy, I got a call on my cell phone from an old buddy who had also moved to California from my hometown. He gave me some sage wisdom about how he too struggled with money and work until things finally got on track for him. He went out there to be a Hollywood TV writer, and although he still had a day job in real estate, he had made a solid "foot in the door" connection. He gave me this advice:
“When you embark on a venture, leaving the easy interstate and path of least resistance to go it alone on your own back road...you may trip, stumble and perhaps fall...but at least you've got the courage to go your own way and do your own thing. And the path to success takes a humble heart and an open mind.”
When I hung up with him, I started laughing. Whatever trepidation I’d carried up the mountain with me, now lay shattered into a million pieces in the water below Seven Falls. My baptism was complete.
That next week, I remembered the "humble heart and open mind" as I applied for some less-than-perfect jobs (one at a CVS down the hill from my place, and one at a cheesy out-call massage company in the area) and I looked forward to positive changes in the coming week.
Two days later, my resume—one in perhaps hundreds—made its way to the top of the pile at Bacara Resort and Spa – one of Santa Barbara’s top two premier resorts – and I was called in for an interview.
The moment I let go of it
Was the moment I got more than I could handle
The moment I jumped off of it
Was the moment I touched down
~Alanis Morrisette
Namaste, y'all!
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