Living outside the box

That's what I'm doing at the moment. As you know I've taken myself and my family out of our house, out of our town and out of our state to travel for 100 days around Australia. But this is more than just a holiday for me, more than lovely family time together - it's an opportunity to stretch myself beyond my comfort zones and really live outside of the box.

This Easter weekend we're driving 2700km across the vast Nullabor Plain from Adelaide to Perth. That thought alone and the unknowing of what awaits me on this trip is enough to bring out my vulnerability. However last night I then locked our keys in the car after a misunderstanding with my darling partner while we were on a short stop in a small town north of Adelaide. My vulnerability grew stronger.

We worked for two hours on the car, the keys in sight on the box of homeschooling books in the back seat, trying to press the button to open the doors with a piece of fencing wire inserted down into the window seal. The girls played in the dirt in front of a house as the afternoon turned into evening. Bethany soiled her nappy. The wipes and clean nappies were in the car. Then it was completely dark and I was feeling desperation start to rise.

So I turned it around...

I imagined everything working out. I imagined us getting into the car, relieved that it had worked out. I imagined us continuing our drive north and happily setting up camp in the dark. I imagined the girls going to sleep peacefully in the car as we drove. Still the car was locked, but the imagining helped. I embraced that old vulnerability of mine and transformed it using my imagination into a possible future - like consciously creating what I wanted at the time.

Not long afterwards a tow truck pulled up next to Ian, who was still trying to press the buttons with the wire, and after a quick conversation came back with his van full of tools. In 10 minutes our car was beautifully open and and that future I imagined started to manifest. It was a lovely moment as I realised this.

Then, after trying to pay the kind mechanic, I found out that he'd come as a favour to his friend - whose house we were outside and we'd spoken to briefly a couple of hours earlier. It was both of these kind strangers who helped turn our evening from disaster to a consciously created wonder and I left feeling that my vulnerability had transformed into awe.

But the greatest thing about it all?

Both vulnerability and awe felt the same - both raw, both big, both plundering the depths of my heart.

It was a day of whole-of-heart living - outside the box and outside of my comfort zone. And I'll be back for more of this out of the box living you know, 'cause it cleans me out, mucks out those smaller emotions and let's me feel perspective. And that's precious.

When did you last have a day of living outside the box Mamas?