Lessons From Great Spirits Ranch

A crafted wooden sign that read, “Leave Your Ego at the Gates” greeted me on a recent blindingly-bright LA morning. I’m a firm believer the Universe sends us signs that manifest into synchronicities – nothing is a coincidence. Sometimes the signs are subtle but this one was staring right at me. I pressed the buzzer, a voice chirped hello through the crackly static and the scroll gates slowly creaked open, beckoning me inside. Hidden in the sun-toasted hills of Malibu, this ranch was epic with made-for-movie views at every turn. Stone letters in the shape of L-O-V-E signaled me to drive down the twisting, mulch-covered road to reveal a retreat for rescued horses, mini-donkeys, alpacas, pigs, goats, dogs, chickens, and geese. And for people too, I’m imagine. Little did I know the lessons I would soon learn.

Earlier this past January, I began looking for volunteer opportunities to work in nature and with animals. Something meaningful and impactful. So I dove down the Instagram rabbit hole and discovered a couple options but none like the one called Great Spirits Ranch. It practically leapt off the page. I wasn’t sure whether the owners were looking for help but something nudged me to inquire. Less than a day after I sent my email, I spoke with the owner and shortly thereafter enjoyed my first day at the ranch.

 

 

Lesson 1: Send the email!

Seriously. If you feel that inexplicable nudge to reach out, something will come of it. If you hear crickets, it just means that you’re meant for something different – and that energy is being re-directed elsewhere. That little seed of an idea will germinate and take root in the right place. 

So I got a tour of the expansive, terraced grounds and immediately felt a kinship. It was like coming home. The sign at the entrance, the ranch’s mission (some of which I can’t reveal b/c it’s a work in progress), how lovingly the animals were cared for, the tranquility…it was full of great spirits. This place had a way of bringing me into the moment.

All I had to do was focus on the tasks at hand like feeding the animals and cleaning their living spaces. By that I mean shoveling horse and alpaca poop into tidy piles! And that’s what I did on my first day at the ranch. The ranch wasn’t meant for cute cowboy boots or sparkly gel manicures unless your goal was wreck both. Thankfully I didn’t have to deal with either predicament. And the funny thing is that a day on the ranch made me feel more beautiful and happy than any manicure or cowboy boot could offer.

 

 

Lesson 2: Leave Your Ego At the Gates.

Our egos get in the way of so many wonderful things that COULD happen in our lives if we let go of that self-perpetuating ball of fear; The old perceived mistakes, regrets, internal cut-downs, shoulda-coulda-woulda but didn’t moments that keep you from experiencing the here and now. Heck we’re born with it and it was useful to us when we had to outrun a saber-tooth tiger. Considering I had no plans for a run-in with such a creature, I really tried to make a point to let it go and re-connect to my true self – because she’s a pretty cool gal.

One recent day, the owner and I were chatting outside the garden that lay beyond a weathered gate draped in magenta bougainvillea; It dawned on her that it could really use a refresh since other ranch activities had taken priority. In that instant, I became the gardener. Now I’ve tended a few container gardens in my life – on fire escapes in NYC and balconies in LA that flourished in the scorching heat of deep summer but nothing of this magnitude. It was comprised of 3 raised plots built from reclaimed wood and enclosed in chicken wire, each measuring about 10 x 10 feet. I spent my first day as gardener weeding for about 3 hours. Much of it was a tangle of blackberry vines and overgrown herbs that needed trimming. “Trim the overgrowth and the energy will be re-directed back to the roots so they can grow,” was my direction. Despite the leather gloves I wore, my hands were studded with prickly thorns. I didn’t mind. It was a good sting.

 

 

I also managed to haul 13 large buckets of compost to carpet at least one plot! A note about the compost. It sits in a large heap on the edge of a beautiful hill overlooking the undulating slopes and slivered canyons of Malibu about 200 ft from the garden. Going back to shovel more compost into the bucket meant that I’d get another chance to look at that view. Not the worst thing in the world.

 

 

Lesson 3: Make New Connections.

In my world of open-seating plans, Polycom brainstorm sessions and folks chattering about the latest meme or social media influencer, it was refreshing to get dropped into a completely different “work” environment. It offered up new possibilities and creative ideas on how to approach my work and life, in general – not to mention yet another way to talk my ego out of keeping me in a safe, contained world.  

See I’ve always had a knack for linking disparate ideas like a game of connect-the-dots but thought it was a useless, oddball trait. Until I recently read an article by writer and MIT fellow Maria Popova on her blog Brain Pickings about how every idea is built on what came before.

“In order for us to truly create and contribute to the world, we have to be able to connect countless dots, to cross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, to combine and recombine these pieces and build new castles,” she says. It’s part of her belief in combinatorial creativity, the idea of connecting things to create new ideas. 

All these points of connection lead to something. To imagine, what would I see when all of them connected? A castle maybe? I’d like to think of a mandala, those beautiful geometric figures representing the Universe in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism! No matter how far this ranch was from my daily life and production work, I could already see how it could fertilize my brain and sprout new ways of approaching each day.

So a few visits to ranch later, I finished blanketing the remaining plots with compost, planted the remaining seeds and labeled each vegetable with a worn popsicle stick. It was hugely grounding to dig my hands into the warm dirt and watch the earthworms wriggle with delight at the fresh bed of compost. I couldn’t wait to taste sunshine on the ripe vegetables.

 

 

Here’s what I planted in each garden:

Garden 1: Basil, thyme, sage, oregano, dill, parsley, and watercress.

Garden 2: Green peppers, butter lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots, and radishes.

Garden 3: Potatoes, chives, red onions, parsnips, turnips, kohlrabi and beets.

*Also, each garden will be bordered by a thicket of blackberries.

 

 

Lesson 4: Get with Nature.

If you’ve read my other blog posts then you know of my mantra for embracing a life of adventure. Much of that is inspired by nature. I’m continuously in awe of ever-changing sunsets, the intoxicating scent of jasmine, the feeling of diving through a crashing wave or the cool mist in a pre-historic rainforest. Plant some flowers, hug a tree, hug a donkey (they’re so obliging)! We are all born from carbon. It’s no wonder I feel at home in a forest under a canopy of leaves. 

I understand that donating my time at a ranch might not be the conventional way to kick-start new goals in life but don’t forget about lesson #3. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve gotten sucked into the mainstream no matter how hard I try to fight the current. But it’s worth the extra paddle to re-invent the way I grow my life and tackle challenges. I’ve already surprised myself at how my time at the ranch has re-wired my brain seek out new types of freelance work and creative projects, eat better and even take up painting! More on that in a future blog post. And that brings me to lesson #5.

 

 

Lesson 5: It’s Okay to Re-Invent the Rules.

Don’t live by what other people think you should be doing. Make your own rules. The beauty is that you can re-invent them whenever and however you want. My rules are focused on a passion for learning. Being a gardener and ranch-hand during my free time has already been a pretty awesome experience. I can’t wait to see what each new day brings.

I’ll be writing more stories about my time with the animals, garden and other happenings around this special place. So stay tuned for more of my tales from the ranch!