Spit out the guilt & Dance Yourself Clean

The stage at the Sydney Opera House was bathed in fluorescent purple light that hung off the ethereal set. Mesh burlap material draped down from the ceiling like a canopy of frost you'd stumble upon in some magical winter moment wandering through forest at dawn.

A silent, dream-like trance fell across the sold out audience and each soul in the room seemed momentarily captivated and hypnotized while gently massaged by the blissful sounds being created by the band of men on stage known as Bon Iver.

"soul massage" was used to describe the show. its a perfect explanation.

I drank in this moment… Sitting beside my soul sister, Tawney who had just landed in Australia less then 48 hours before and was now sitting beside me for the second consecutive night watching this unbelievable, emotion-evoking performance we were somehow lucky enough to be experiencing again… This was the beginning of the adventure we were about to embark on.

Our friend, Colin was onstage playing saxophone while we sat 5 rows back, dead center, witnessing the same show we had been blessed enough to witness at exactly the same time the night before, only tonight we were comped on the guest list.

"Should we feel bad that people are dying to come to this show - literally paying 400 dollars on ebay to be here - and we are waltzing in for a second night in a row?"

We whispered to each other between songs juggling the emotion of guilt… swishing it around in our mouths to see how it tasted and then choosing to spit it out.
No.
We created this reality and deserve to experience the amazing world we chose to manifest to life.

At least that's how i justified it in my head right before the dissonant harmonies of "The Wolves" began and i was immediately sucked back into the daze … Slipping into the space between where my body ends and where I begin.

We slept briefly but blissfully at our friend Michael's condo that we have been playing house in, before heading to the airport once again en route to Brisbane, Queensland.

"Oh sure… Let's draw on each other with the blue tribal body paint marker while reading about astrology and drinking our green juice… we're not hippies," Tawney said mocking our gypsydome that we were totally owning in that moment, sitting at a table in the middle of the airport food court…

I had a retractable hula hoop and some sage in my carry-on. She had Shantaram and an extendible fork in hers.
We love ourselves in the best possible way.

It was time to give this adventure a name and a flavor… Brand development time.

Tawney had already chosen our theme song before she even landed in Sydney and it couldn't be better. LCD Soundsystem "Dance Yrself Clean."



Welcome to "the gypsYEEAdventure" (to be said in a rough Aussie accent accentuating the "yeea" that must be said with a scrunched up nose)

We made up our signature gypsYEEAdventure dance waiting for our flight and proceeded to dance all over the terminal, making some people scowl and frown disapprovingly - but mostly made people laugh… with us… at us… either way we were creating laughter and love and it was good.

We filmed ourselves rocking out… dancing ourselves clean all over the domestic terminal at Sydney airport without apology. Up and down the corridors, in the bathroom stalls and moonwalking backwards along the moving walkways. We are in love with life.

A few nights before, my friend back home in America texted me in response to something i was telling her - talking about creating your own reality and choosing to do things that make you happy on a daily basis… She retorted with some hostility, "Ya… easy for you to say… you're whole life is one big vaycay."

I didn't know how to respond at first. I felt hurt and shattered that she was "booing my yay" as the 5 year old she nanny's for would say… I felt a pang of guilt, like maybe i shouldn't be living my life this way since she and millions of other people couldn't…

But then i stopped and reframed the whole conversation in my head.

YES. My life is one big vaycay because i chose to make it this way. I have manifested and created this existence. It's not by accident that beautiful opportunities come to me. I work hard to create joy and beauty around me and chose to live a life that i would be okay with leaving altogether if i died tomorrow because i have no regrets or unfulfilled desires… Nothing lurking from a deep, unsatisfied, desirous place.

Again i chose to spit out the guilt I was swirling inside my mouth like a sip of mezcal.

We arrived in Brisbane and made our way over to Traveller's Auto Barn - the funky, amazing car & van rental place that would be supplying the vehicle for the gypsYEEAdventure road trip down the East Coast of Australia.



We were taken through the list of do's and don'ts for the rental and before we knew it we were sitting in the front seat of our shaggin wagon. Our trunk was full of camping gear… but i mean… everything you need to survive forever… a gas stove, tent, chairs and table, plates, knives, a cooler… the whole shabang! All part of the incredible package.
I can't imagine anyone NOT doing this when traveling through Australia.
It's like every ingredient for fun and adventure handed over in the form of a car key.

We blasted our LCD stereosystem anthem and danced in our seats as we waited in the TAB parking lot for the final okay to hit the road…

While sitting in the place that will no doubt house our butts comfortably and safely over the next two weeks as we make our way back down to Sydney - we got a text inviting us to go meet friends at a fancy Italian restaurant. We quickly pulled down the mirrors and fixed our makeup so as not to look like weary gypsies…
We glanced out at the backpackers and campers lining up to be placed into their wagons and vans from TAB (Travellers Auto Barn)….
One last time, we looked at one another with a face that questioned whether or not we should feel guilty that we were being hooking up with this shaggin wagon and living this really amazing reality - about to go hang out with incredibly talented friends who were opening their posh hotel rooms up for us to sleep over, take saunas, and be fed gorgeous food and wine?

Instead of guilt we turned to gratitude…

SUCH a better vibe.

gypsYEEAHdventures off to a great start… gratitude in the heart and a theme song too.

x