I have arrived in Denmark for 3 weeks of my sabbatical to write. It’s been a seriously challenging few days. I rented a small, old little house in a little town in Denmark to be close to the woods and the sea as well as coffee and groceries. I am nervous about committing to writing, but bound and determined to try so I was really looking forward to being ALONE. Staying with my cousin has been great but not enough quiet time. So off I went
Naskov definitely was NOT a tourist town, which I thought would serve my purposes of not wanting to be too distracted. Unfortunately, the house also smelled really old, dusty and with mildew and mold. It was so bad my nose and throat stuffed up and I couldn’t stay in the house. I could barely sleep there, so I had to cancel that reservation and find a new place. I was completely bummed! Time for some serious spiritual practice to turn my attitude around.
Pretty much everything in Europe and Scandinavia is booked for the summer and what’s left is super expensive. Since I only got 20% of my rental back I couldn’t just go anywhere or take anything that was left. Looking around all the places near the woods and the ocean either had no WiFi or they had no running water or I could only get there by car. That left me towns I could get to by train, so I decided to check out Copenhagen. I’ve never been here and what the hell! I’m going to make the best of it! It’s my sabbatical and it won’t happen again for years. Time for some serious affirmations that things unfold for my good.
It took a day but I found a student apartment in the University District, on the fourth floor, but, thank God, with elevator and WiFi. Pretty expensive but with Karen’s enthusiastic support I went for it. Another day of travel and I arrived at a lovely, airy apartment overlooking a little playground and some trees. It seemed to have everything in it until I discovered that there was NO way to make coffee. Only instant coffee on the shelves. Ugh!
I also discovered that the sun is SUPER hot near the solstice and boy does it get warm in here between 5 and 9 pm. Oh yes, the sun rises at 4 and sets at 10! Oh, and then the next thing that went wrong – my first full day here the front door handle pulled off the door! I had to wait for a full day for the locksmith. And when he came he fixed the handle but made the lock really hard to open. I finally freaked-out and had a bit of a meltdown. Poor guy, he didn’t know what to do with this American lady in tears. Time for some serious work trusting the Universe that things always work out for good!
While it really felt like I got off to a rocky start, I have truly been supported every step of the way. Karen, my beloved, has been amazing, absolutely there for me while she’s enjoying handling everything at home. And I really see how everything has worked out. Here I sit, looking into a very quiet University district (everyone’s left for the summer) with really nothing nearby to distract me. I can rent a bike 2 blocks away and be anywhere in the city in less than 30 minutes. There’s a lovely park with a little lake filled with water birds a 5-minute walk away. And I can walk 2 minutes in either direction to groceries stores and little coffee shops.
And I’ve been writing, every day. Since I’ve never done this I don’t know how it’s going. I’m challenged with my own sense of worthiness and ability – Do I really have something worthwhile to share and can I do it in a way that will help others? Time for some serious self-examination and getting out of my little self. Time to just go for it and let Spirit lead the way!
For the next three weeks, my Daily Words will be a little sporadic since I’m writing so much already. You can look for pictures on my FB page if you want to see where I am. In the meantime, I just keep remembering that every day is an opportunity for spiritual practice and an opening for miracles. You keep remembering that too whenever you meet your challenges along the way. Never give up! Never give up hope or the intention for things to work out for your good! Whether this is in your own life, in the life of someone you love, or even in the larger life of our nation and the planet. Never give up hope that the Universe supports you and that things work out for good. Even if it doesn’t look exactly like we imagined it, somehow, they always do.