The Nomadic Network
A theme which has always been present in life is the idea of being nomadic, but have you noticed how it’s really become a thing “since Covid”? Businesses embracing remote working like never before, people who worked from home “during Covid” and just never went back and a new culture of nomads emerging: digital nomads. We live in fascinating times. Hard times, but fascinating and multifaceted. On the (apparent) one hand, there’s technology and the digital world, encroaching on our freedoms and privacy more and more each day, and then there’s the free, natural world, people reconnecting with Mother Earth in multiple ways and wanting to be free of “the matrix”. But perhaps, these two are in fact inter-related. By harnessing the freedom and connection the internet allows us to have, breaking down barriers, moving beyond geographical limitations, quite literally, we’re able to have more contact with Mother Nature and even live off-grid entirely if we choose to.
Since I’ve been in Kefalonia, so a mere handful of days, and not having been here since 2015, it is all-too blatant. Here’s a snapshot of this nomadic existence and return to Gaia:
The farm I am staying at, harnessing sustainable systems, such as an A-House built simply but effectively. It has a bio-toilet, the waste of which goes into a holding where the heat from the sun helps it produce gases which in turn become bio-fuel, home-made gas, which can then heat the water going back into the house. There’s so many vegetables and fruit, field of wheat and a plan to make a 7000-8000 gallon reservoir so they no longer have to buy water in, and can be fully independent.
Stefano, from Turin, long-time resident of Kefalonia, used to own an amazing beach bar and restaurant, Acqua, bringing Italian panache in his cuisine to these Greek shores, using high-quality local ingredients - and inspiration for Italo-Greek fusion food. He sold that before Covid (“thankfully”), bought a boat and has spent these last few years, this hiatus, renovating it. I visited it and he’s nearly ready. Everything has been done with consciousness on using natural materials and restoring it to its former glory, being a historical boat in its origin. The plan is to offer intimate, private-chartered dining out at sea. There’s already a waiting list.
Stefano tells me of a friend of his who spent three years travelling the world “by soil”, ie. not taking any flights, tracking his experience as “Vagabondo” (nomad in Italian) and after this life-changing experience, he has now started a conscious community, in the hills just outside my home away from home, Bologna, called Progetto Meraki.
Rosie, the new manager of a well-known live music venue and bar in the heart of Fiskardo, the Fishbone, runs wellness workshops for women. Where? Out sailing, at sea, where they then have the time and the calm to work, process and reflect on the coaching received and how to bring the new-found lessons back to their lives and make the changes their souls are calling for.
A cafe on the outskirts of Fiskardo, Picnic, was bought by mother and daughter team Christina and Nicoletta back in 2016. Not only is the food sublime, the view to die for and the ambiance uplifting and relaxing at the same time, Nicoletta also has ambitious plans. Noticing for herself the new trend of how people are living and working, she has in mind to open a coworking/coliving hostel specifically with digital nomads in mind.
Kefalonia is host to an eclectic and multicultural bunch of free spirits, some who are permanent residents, others who come and spend extended periods of time here. One such couple are Ken and Patricia, who own a Feng Shui coaching business. Their whole work is about helping people make the change in their life which will allow for abundance, prosperity and love to enter and flow more towards them. They too have embraced the flexibility of how they’re now working and have left their home in Ireland to travel where their hearts take them. Their “no-plan plan” took them through Italy where they ended up buying a run-down rural property with four acres of land, which was sold cheaply to people wanting to renovate these abandoned properties and bring life back to rural Italy. Their lives are on the road and they seem to have a home in many places, quite literally.
All of this is so inspiring. Everyday people making their dreams and passion projects a reality and living a life which gives them a twinkle in their eyes. Yes, it’s hard, damn hard even; it involves taking chances, but life is what we make of it, and with good people, a good idea and a good heart, anything is possible. We live in an abundant universe yet a lot of what we consume in society tells us otherwise: we’re meant to believe there are scarce resources, scarce work opportunities; scarce financial prospects; scarce decent potential partners. What if we were to lift up these allegorical coins and look at the other side? If the right kinds of systems are implemented, energy can be limitless and non-impactful on nature (and our pocket!); money is an illusion yet also intrinsically linked to our sense of self-worth and value – change that mindset and we can allow for money to flow abundantly into our lives; in a realm of nearly eight billion people, there is more than one soul mate out there for us, we just have to live the life we want so we can attract the right kind of love into our lives: love ourselves first and be in a place of gratitude for the love flowing into our every day.
Mother Nature is infinitely abundant, just look at how many seeds just one tomato has, each with the potential to become a whole new tomato plant, itself producing multiple tomatoes!
And on this trip, I learned that it is by planting one solitary raw peanut into the soil that a peanut plant (is that what it’s called!?) springs forth to offer many more! I also learned that peanuts are not even nuts. They are in fact legumes, more like peas than nuts. Who knew!?
But just because we hold an abundant mindset, this doesn’t mean we should be wasteful, quite the opposite! It is by appreciating the cyclical network of nature that we may continue to have abundance. Appreciating what we have and use so we aren’t wasteful. In this dualistic universe, we have night and day; black and white; hot and cold; male and female; love and hate; positive and negative. Both sides are needed for there to be yin and yang and for the universal whole to sing freely. It is only by embracing our shadow that our inner light may shine through. Something which one day we may be finding scary can also be exciting and exhilarating. So whatever it is that you hold in your heart that literally makes your heart sing. To quote my wonderful life coach, Lisa Liljeberg, whose whole life and soul purpose is all about abundance and manifestation: “wild thing what makes your heart sing?”.
what a wonderful article - sonia shines a torch on what is possible and unearths these human gems living in a liberating form outside the dreary matrix
i love the infusion of the photos to bring to life this alternative world that exists beside us all right now
keep on rocking!