Visionary Troubadour

So, I’m sitting in a cozy little hostel here in Cordoba, Argentina pondering lap tops, hostels and A Course In Miracles. There’s a really sweet family vibe here at Tango Hostel, and it’s far nicer and cozier than other hostels I’ve stayed in. It’s under new ownership, and the three new owners are in their mid-twenties.  I love the vibe!

How I think about life, the world and how I move in the world is continually evolving on my Visionary Troubadour path.  In my practical decisions for guiding my life day to day, my challenge is to continue to open to a path of trust, love and miracles.  May sound airy-fairy, but it is revolutionizing my life and my experience of my life in beautiful ways!

So, I’ve been contemplating selling my new Mac Air, because there is simply a good chance that it will get stolen in South America and I might as well cash in and let people steal a cheaper laptop!  And because I was also reading an article today about the importance of free software in an era when authoritarian institutions and their silver-tongued leaders (Obama and the NDAA anyone?) are usurping more and more rights and becoming more and more of a threat to us all, and about a $200 Chinese lap top, the YeeLoong Notebook, that runs 100% on free/open software .

By the way, here’s a quote from the article I mentioned above detailing just a small part of the web of power that Obama has set up, while continuing Bush’s egregious overreaches,

But here we are, at the start of 2012. Obama signed the NDAA for 2012, making it possible for American citizens to be detained indefinitely without any form of trial or due process, only because they are terrorist suspects. At the same time, we have SOPA, which, if passed, would enact a system in which websites can be taken off the web, again without any form of trial or due process, while also enabling the monitoring of internet traffic. Combine this with how the authorities labelled the Occupy movements – namely, as terrorists – and you can see where this is going.

I will leave that to the state-side Americans to fight for their liberty (hats off to the Ron Paul Revolutionaries stirring things up!), I am interested in choosing liberty as a lifestyle in a way that does not depend on miscellaneous dictators (what else can you call the last two American Presidents, who together have practically abolished our Bill of Rights, and are unconstitutionally gathering more and more power to the Executive Branch?).

As my American brothers and sisters take up the fight, I’m preparing for my next excursion into Brasil, and hopefully laying pathways for Americans seeking a new path.

Soon after I finish reading the article and checking the Ron Paul news, a ask a good friend of mine, Tom Cau from Brasil (a visionary man who I met at this event for visionaries in 2007), where the best way to sell my laptop in Brasil is.  He points me to www.mercadolibre.com.br, the South American eBay.  Soon though I learn that I probably won’t be able to get what I paid for it, even though people in South America often have to pay higher prices for many American goods.  My friend then tells me he’ll be using my Honor Window process at his rebirthing event in Brasil tomorrow.  I feel joy and excitement, knowing the body of work I created is moving into the world without me.

Then Tom invites me to begin the year-long self-study program, A Course In Miracles, now at the same time as him.  I’ve heard lots about this book and program over the years, and a lot last year from two dear Brasilian friends of mine who practice it regularly.  Tom’s going through the course again this year starting today, and sends me some web links.  I check this one out, a pdf version of the book and course, and begin reading the first chapter and what is meant by the term “miracle.”

Interesting!  Sounds like a perfect accompaniment for my Visionary Troubadour path!  Miracles… hmmm… this path has definitely been opening them up–opening ME up!  ;)

So, I Skyped one of my other amazing friends, the one who gifted my the laptop, just to let her know I was contemplating selling it… it was a gift from her, and I thought it appropriate.  I told her it was because I fear it might get stolen and that once I buy a flight and land in Brasil, my current cash is going to be all but spent.  If I sell the laptop, I’ll have some cash cushion as I continue to open up new streams of cashflow after having most of the last year and a half off.

She affirmed that she wouldn’t let me starve if it came to it.  Of course… I keep forgetting… I have so many people I’ve given to and so many people I am close with who would help me out if I really needed it.  It’s my old cultural conditioning that has me think that if I don’t have reserves, then if a crisis comes I will be in a “bad place.”  Really the only thing “bad” that would come is if I felt shame in being in a position where I am considering asking for help.  Shame is culturally conditioned.  In American Culture, to need help is shameful.  In many other communities and cultures it’s about being connected, trusting, being part of community, etc.  This is the kind of TRUST I am interested in moving with.

So, no need to sell the laptop.  Thank God, I love it!  And I’ll get better work done with it, and it would be a pain to try to sell it for the price I bought it for.

I can go back to focusing on my projects for monetizing my trip!

By the way, I highly recommend Tango Hostel if you’re here for the summer (Southern Hemisphere), especially if you’re after a friendly and quieter experience of Cordoba. But when the students come back, apparently it can be quite wild, as it’s in the heart of the university party district.  Tell them I sent you!

And let me know your thoughts on A Course In Miracles!