Or the story of How I lost My Phone, Found it, Then Lost it Again
We were invited to take part in an opening ritual for our first night on Necker Island, and after arriving at the Grand House we each stepped into a circle together. On the table laid out before us was a beautiful selection of envelopes from which one by one we instinctively chose; I felt drawn immediately towards an envelope with a sticker depicting an open book that seemed to hold worlds within – the card inside read KAITIAKI: Guardian of Papatūānuku.
It spoke about healing my connection with Divine Feminine energy and Mother Earth through re-earthing myself over the next few days – reading its words sent shivers down my spine as I had lost touch with Mother Earth, with the outside world for a while now.
BUT I guess these moments weren’t enough…
On the last night of our stay, we gathered under a full moon that glowed against the evening sky and lit up an unforgettable beachfront dinner party. We were asked to come dressed as our future self, pretending that it was 2023 and we were meeting up after a year of personal and professional growth!
At one point, I was looking for my phone and couldn’t find it; cue heart palpitations and panic-stricken thoughts! After all, that phone held my entire life AND we’d had dinner literally at the beach, with our feet in the sand, in darkness, with a lot of people around.
After an hour or so, right before we moved on to another venue, it was found, only to be gone again a bit later.
This time I was calmer, deciding to go look for it in the morning when the sun was up.
I woke up early to retrieve my steps, running into Richard on his tennis court. We chatted, he made me coffee and tried to help me find it, but… nothing…
It was gone.
And we had an hour left before the boats were leaving.
In the end, 8 people were searching the entire island just for my phone until it was found at the very, VERY last minute.
In this moment I remembered my card. I remembered how yes, I had connected with the island, with Mother Earth, but I’d also failed miserably, letting my mind drive me nuts with scenarios like: I won’t even be able to listen to my audiobooks on the long journey home (which literally was the worst thing about not having a phone for me) and I wasn’t as calm as I’d hope I’d be in a situation were a darn device just wasn’t available.
I don’t believe in coincidences. I know I drew that card for a reason.
I know that it’s incredibly important for me to re-earth and come back home into the womb of nature for my own well-being and balance. Losing my phone twice in one night couldn’t have been a clearer sign.
I was grateful for the staff who found my phone, yes, but I will always be curious to know how I’d “survive” traveling for 20 hours without the distraction of this device that seemingly holds entire worlds…
My desire for 2023 is to spend way more time away from Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram and Co., letting the constant pressure of having to be available slide and allowing myself to re-enter life without having to be “on” 24/7.
