"Divine Sequencing"

I could not have conjured a more poetic script for the last 5 days of my life. The degree to which the energy of the universe touched me, was one, of only two such moments I have ever experienced such real power in my time. While the traditionally dominant realist within wanted to sum it up practically, as a random sequence of events. The routinely quiet, and subservient spiritual side of me was proclaiming the obvious.... This is real, and tangible, right now, not yesterday or yesteryear, right now. PAY ATTENTION! So I did, good boy. Having just spent the better part of a week resting my battered body, in the bay area. I was dropped of in a little hidden gem known as Petaluma Ca, The drop off felt allot like the first day all over again. There I was standing in the middle of a relatively large town, the sun was quickly slipping away, I new nobody, and a tinge of fear had again began to creep in the reaches of my gut. I thought to myself...Mike you have got to learn, once and for all to just trust. Trust in your mission , trust in your instincts, And trust in your tools. I hauled myself, and entourage of gear to a local cafe, pulled out my laptop and checked my Couch surfing profile to see if anyone had replied to my request for free lodging in Petaluma. Ahh instant relief, Neil a local Petaluma jazz musician had replied, and left a phone# for me to call. I quickly called him, and was retrieved, thankfully from my now dark, and cold Petaluma street corner. My time with Neil was a nice calm before what I had firmly decided, was going to be a flurry of speedy hitchhiking to come. I had began to feel a little bit behind schedule... I know, im not on a schedule! Hard to break some of these habits. Neil dropped me off on the road to the coast, at around 9am the next morning fully rested, fed, and feeling recommitted to my reality. I was quickly picked up on the outskirts of Petaluma, and driven to highway 1, which runs alongside the coast, almost all the way through California, and Oregon. I had been quite excited to experience this road, and its people, the tales of great hitching, glorious camp sites, and friendly authorities, are endless along this stretch.

I find myself for the first time on this trip surrounded by absolutely nothing, no businesses, no people, and only an occasional car passing me, with friendly nods of approval and thumb and forefinger pinched in an effort to show how far they were going. The spot I had been delivered too overlooked a twisted coastal road set atop jagged black cliffs that protect the towns above from the sometimes erratic Pacific Ocean. I took my time and fully engaged my new surroundings, finding the best spot with a view to catch a ride from, and then I posted up, "North." As I sat there In the splendor of the ocean, I eventually looked down in sulking fashion to play with the dirt at my heels, and realized I was right on top of a perfectly intact eagle feather. I picked it up, held it in the sun light, and thought...Surely this is a sign of good things to come. When I had finally disengaged the feather, I looked up to see a truck had pulled up beside me. A beautiful blond cowgirl was telling me how she was only going 2 miles up the road, and if I wanted I could jump in. The stimulation of the feather, the girl, and the potential ride embarrassingly sent me into stupid mode, I stuttered... Ahhh, Ummm, Ahhhh, Ok. It is important to note that it is almost always a really bad idea to accept short rides, but I swear, after I had regained enough composure to respond intelligently, I had an instinctual response within, to take the ride... and I followed it. After the usual formalities, I asked the obvious... What are you doing out here? Sheila began to describe her volunteer involvement at a "Equine Guided Education" program at a 1000 acre ranch down the road. We discussed the details of both our lives for a time, and we both knew almost simultaneously, and without a doubt why we had met. I offered to do some interviews and shoot some quick footage of their interactions with a group of inner city youth that had been driven up from San Fransisco. Right about this time Sheila realized that she had driven quite a bit further than the previously agreed 2 miles. No matter, the new plan was to turn South, and head for the ranch...Wrong direction Mike! So much for my flurry of speedy hitchhiking up the coast to make up for lost time. About 20 minutes after meeting Sheila I find myself standing on the stunning Medicine Horse Ranch, doing a relaxed form of an interview with owner/director Alyssa Aubrey. In all honesty I thought it would be pretty far fetched for Alyssa to allow a guy literally just picked off the road to come in and film her, and a group of teenagers interacting with the 5 or so horses. It wouldn't hurt to try though. Alyssa had an intense energy that surrounded her as she spoke,as if she didn't need to speak with me to know my character. We talked about her life long love of horses, and her belief that I had been sent there for a very specific reason. Of course I felt the exact same way, and couldn't wait to actually see, and film the work that she spoke so lovingly about. For the next three days I was allowed full privileges on the ranch, I filmed the full process of growth in three distinct stages within each teenager. The girls went through these stages of sensitivity training with the horses, and then Alyssa would insert a pow wow session in between to discuss the experiences, results and then a final prep for the next stage. Lesson one, horses can detect the slightest hint of fear, anxiety, or tension, and they respond accordingly as they directly mirror the energy being put out by their handler. I could see this occuring without question as most of the girls entered the arena with very prevalent expressions of fear exuding, as you would expect from your average city bound teenager.The horses responded to this without hesitation, horses resist negative energy intensely. Lesson two, confidence building, I witnessed as each girl did their very best not to put out fearful vibes, many of them failing in the task, readjusting, and trying again until they eventually succeeded with proper coaching, and relaxation techniques. Lesson three, living full speed with their new found confidences, each girl was presented with tasks that would cause even the most composed among us to put out stressful energy. In the end, I witnessed as each youth was morphed from fearful, crawling, infancy to upright full speed, vessels of confidence wielding young ladies. All in three days! Alas in Alyssa's own words, what if I had the ability to give them more time? Where would they be then?
My evenings were equally enjoyable, they consisted of me being picked up by Sheila the original "ride giver" and driven all over Marin county in search of the best local music, beer, and sights. We shared many conversations on life, the meaning of, and other daunting, seemingly unanswerable questions. Sheila another, in a long line of people I have met on the road that was in a state of major flux, was volunteering at the ranch in hopes of finding something more meaningful in life. Sheila had it all the house, the husband, the status the money etc etc. Yet it was lacking something, a sense of reality. In her own words, she was escaping her perfect little life in a box, to "shovel shit" at the ranch. This gave her a peace, a sense of simplicity that was much more meaningful to her, than all the typical checklist items she had already acquired. Something I understand all to well. Sheila was completely aware that something was wrong with the picture she had created over the years. Beautiful, and sparkling on the outside, but tumultuous on the in. These were a few of her epiphanies, that im sure she would want me to send out to the world; The standards of perfection that we have set for ourselves as a society are completely unreachable for the vast majority of us. Of course this doesn't stop us from working ourselves silly trying to attain the illusion. Even those of us, like Sheila who have actually reached the upper echelon of that standard quickly realize their is not necessarily a blissful state of awe to be had once you have arrived. What you do get, often consists of wasted years, trying to reach a meaningless position of fat pockets, broken relationships, lost time, and regret. A congratulations is due the untold numbers of you out their that are resisting this wasteful theory of perfection, and have entered onto a path of rejection. Rejection of a status quo that often brings with it lasting lessons in futility. It takes courage to step out there, to do something different, like shoveling shit for fun? Dont knock it till you try it folks! To do these things will often bring with it considerable rejection from your peers, that want you to continue reaching out with them to this blind bliss. But enough of that. I could go on forever about my interactions at the ranch. The time was true, and a meaningful experience to me for so many reasons, but I will resist the urge to ramble even more, I have to save something for final production. My time was up, to cap things off, I was driven North to a small town that consisted primarily of a seafood restaurant, where I was graciously fed by Alyssa and partner Gary along with a few drinks, and some stimulating conversation. They set me let loose on a gorgeous beach that im told they shot the movie "birds,"on.
I found a hollow nook in the cliffs, and set up my tent in defiance of the no camping sign nearby and enjoyed what I would have to call the most Beautiful sunset I have ever seen. In the morning I worked through my routine of coffee, breakfast, push ups, ocean bath, and hike to the road. I had barely put my bag down when a motorcycle pulls up, and low and behold its Neil, my C.S host from Petaluma. He wants to know why im not in Oregon yet? All I could do was laugh, and ramble out my best quick rendition of the last three days. We shared a laugh or two and Neil took off down the road much as I had four days earlier at his house. I sat on the side of the road that morning, and marveled at how blessed I been these last few days...surely this cannot continue at the same pace. About fifteen minutes into that thought, 500 or so, charged surfers had converged on the very spot I was using as a hitching post. Appearing from nowhere almost simultaneously. Apparently one of these groups out of 500 was thinking the very same thing I was... Way to many people! As they pulled out of the parking lot to go North in search of better waves, on less crowded beaches. This crew of two gave me a kind look and said... jump in dude! I did, and there I was, off again. The guys were both 18, recent high school graduates, that had decided to do something other than immediately attend secondary school. What could possibly be more important than school you might ask? Catching waves of course! But before you judge their decision to harshly, you should listen to their well thought out answers to why? I spent the day filming surf video, interviews, and afterwards was treated to some very fine Indian cuisine by the two young surfers. In my time with the surfers I found myself thinking...Why are these two guys obviously young, and most likely strapped for cash driving me around, buying me lunch etc etc? My honest opinion was that they related allot to what I was doing. At a point in there lives where allot of big decisions were about to be made regarding their futures, I think they found some solice in the fact that I, a young person also, was actively rejecting that which they were about to enter into. With there opportunity to send a message on camera, they revealed to me their frustrations about entering an obviously flawed college system, that they felt was completely broken. A system that puts more emphasis on partying, fun, and frivolity than it did education. They felt strongly that even if they were to enter it, and succeed at ignoring the distractions, they would likely walk away from their college experiences with sub par, force fed educations, not to mention a pile of debt. Again a problem that I could relate to personally. We spent some time talking about how complaining was not the answer. How do we fix this? among many other daunting problems that face our country, and more specificly the youth that are charged with fixing the mess? It is one thing to complain, It is another thing entirely to act out in defiance of this sad, status quo. When one does so, does it make a difference? In truth, Im still trying to figure that one out for myself, the opposition is powerful, and much more experienced at quelling these frustrations with illusions of justice. How can any one of us make a difference? I think that it goes something like this. Cliche, but true...Become the change, that you want to see. Just do it! Your example will attract others of like mind, all with different powers, and skills sets. From this pool of talents a proper organizer should emerge, now this collective ball of energy has the ability to create momentous change. Before the boys dropped me at the next town North. I thought to myself... that was a kind of serious way to end our interaction with one another, but I quickly reminded myself of how things always happen a certain way, and for a reason. Maybe those simple words will play a role in their future, or mine.
This was the end of my great sequences, I hope I did them justice. The greatness of the story lies with the beauty of the characters as they behaved in the face of a total stranger, the stark contrasts, situation to situation, and the interconnectivity between the medium, that was me. It all just flowed perfectly, and I am positive that the story has yet to have reached its true ending with this group of self proclaimed misfits.
The medicine horse ranch is a nonprofit resource available to all interested parties. If you are interested in becoming either a participant, or a sponsor of this amazing teaching technique please visit, www.horsesenseforteens.com or call Alyssa @1-707-878-2440