Your Creative Sparks:
- Does too much COMFORT and CONVENIENCE actually STIFLE our growth?
- What is good about humans is that WE CAN ADJUST TO ANYTHING.
- Larger than language, it is our ACTION that helps people UNDERSTAND US.
Part four and the "final" episode of our West African adventure! Lobsterbird talks with Ida-san, a man whose life took a dramatic turn at 50 years old, when he decided to challenge himself by going out of his comfort zone in a monumental, transcontinental move from Japan to Burkina Faso. What inspired him? And will it inspire you? Let your imagination take flight as we talk about making a big move, going where your heart is leading you, and finding the path to your greatest personal impact in the world. Leave us a Rating & Review!
Your Travelogue
- At 49 years old, Ida-san was a busy entrepreneur. He had worked as a hairdresser for thirty years and had grown his business to four salons with about 40 workers. One fateful day, he heard about a disaster in the mountains of the Philippines, where many people lost their homes and many children became orphaned. What he learned about the strength and ingenuity of these children would change his life forever. [2:20]
- Ida-san decided he wanted to try himself. "I wanted to become strong, to challenge myself. What will happen in such a place? Maybe I will give up. Or maybe I will become sick. Or maybe I will just close myself in the room because I cannot speak to anyone." Ida-san was inspired to find out what he was really made of. [7:04]
- In a new and harsh environment where no one spoke his language, Ida-san found himself wasting away, physically as well as personally. [10:14] After two months, he thought, "I gotta do something. If I keep being like this, I'm going to lose myself. I'm going to lose to myself, and I don't want to do that." What did he do to find his power, break the stalemate, and begin to feed himself and his soul? [12:12]
- How helping a little boy to fell a tree finally broke the language barrier and established new friendships. Ida-san explains, "I learned something. It's not about the language. I can connect my heart with other people at the first point, through my action." [13:48]
- Ida-san's body began to adapt as well, and he became one that could eat and drink anything. Even a gecko. [16:16]
- Ida-san's experience continued to develop within him new strength, ingenuity and persistence. At first dismissed as a foreigner, how did he finally convince a local expert in agriculture to teach his village how to grow rice? He eventually created a system that combined the best techniques from Burkina Faso and Japan. He also made thirty wells, constructed a school, and initiated many other impactful projects. [18:58]
- Ida-san sees a bigger role in his projects, working from inside the local community and understanding its history. How colonization created distrust between people, and Ida-san's vision to re-establish that trust. "In trust, there is a strong, strong power that we can create." [25:15]
- We don't have to break the system we have today to make an impact on the future. How can we put the elements of Nature into our civilized society, so that the law of the earth informs our understanding and the choices we make? [30:40]
- And what does Ida-san say about Africa being the motherland? "We all humans came from Eve, the mother, the first person. We have to go back unto Eve. From there, we should listen to what she is saying once again." [34:00]
Links and resources:
Music for this episode was contributed by Daniel Munkus and recorded in the Hudson River Valley at Subtle Soup Studios. For more info, visit: www.subtlesouprecords.com.
Podcast management and creative copy provided by Sonya Louise, at the CrossRoads in Sweet Home Alabama. Sonya Louise is also the force of Nature behind GO Solo Travel & Vision Quest.
For Free Energy Readings from Sophia and to learn about upcoming Hero's Way Pilgrimages, visit: lobsterbird.com.
✨The next pilgrimage takes us to Indonesia in November! If you want to build your business so you can make more money with more ease, and make a bigger impact with your work, shoot an email over to magic@lobsterbird.com for more details!✨
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