CHAPTER 1

Gerard awakening was not so subtle. It was about two and a half years ago when he was living in Lebanon, he’s home town. He was on his laptop studying when his friend Fabian dropped by one evening. 

There were having coffee and chit chatting about his girlfriend, his friends and his life in France. He was finishing up on his computer when suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere, a voice popped right into his head and asked, “What are you doing here? What the hell are you doing here?”

He sat there casually carrying on his conversation with Fabian as he quietly responded to this fantom voice in his head, he’s about to finish his degree in business and management. He also just finished his studies in psychology and he’s working while preparing to go to the UK for his masters degree… And what the hell?!” But there it was again the same voice, the same question, “What the hell are you doing here?”

He had been meditating regularly for about five years at that point so his senses were rather open. His mind silently responded, “Well, what should I be doing?”

The voice said, “Get the hell out of here!”

Wow! 

He told Fabian he needed to go to the bathroom. 

He went to the bathroom in a daze, shut the door and splashed some water on his face. As he slowly raised his head, He caught a reflection of himself in the mirror… and he could not recognize himself. The face staring back at him was a stranger to.

He was out of breath. 

What in the world was happening to him.

He went back to the room, downed his coffee, closed his laptop and he said, “Fabian” listen, no more!” 

He said, “Yeah, funny! What do you mean ‘no more’?”

He said, “No, no more! No more study and no more work. He’s traveling! That’s it!” 

He opened up his to-do list. 

What was on his list.

Yoga and meditation teacher training. 

Bingo! That’s what he was going to do! 

What’s the country that it comes from? 

India!

Okay, let’s go to India. Done! 

He booked everything, saved as much money as much as he could, said goodbye to life as he had known it and the next thing he know, he was in India doing his yoga teacher training. 

India was a huge culture shock for him but being very adaptable by nature, He was fully open to embracing their ways, immersing himself in their ancient wisdom and living as they did. It was the start of the most amazing life-changing, mind opening experience for him. By the time his training was over, something profound had shifted within him. He always say that his trip to India is the chapter of his life in which he consider himself to have been spiritually reborn.

He didn’t want to return to Lebanon, He just couldn’t. He wanted to roam the world teaching yoga and meditation and sharing his story so that people could also open their hearts to their dreams, get out of the system and embrace the world.

Georgia came on his radar as they had just relaxed their visa policies towards many nationalities, including Lebanese citizens. This would allow him to stay there visa free for a whole year. He thought it was a great idea—new culture, new food, new language, plus it was very affordable! Great, let’s see what they’ve got!

He ended up staying in Georgia for thirteen months, volunteering in eco-villages. 

His volunteer work allowed him to learn about things that he was passionate about, like natural, sustainable living and permaculture. This eventually also led him to Europe doing the same thing.  He was traveling the world, just as he had dreamed of!

After experiencing a few countries in Europe, He ended up in Turkey. He explored it quite a bit, volunteering again.  One of the eco-villages was up on a mountain and was very basic. It had no electricity and hardly any internet or WiFi. It provided him with complete isolation in all senses. He stayed there for twenty-two days. There drank the water springing from the land and ate the food supplied by mother earth. He felt very deeply connected to everything during his stay there and this allowed for him to dive deeper into his

thoughts. 

As always, He was meditating regularly every morning, every evening, every day, every night. His meditations were revealing to him that he was on the right path. They were also solidifying his vision of what he wanted his future to look like continuing to live a life in accordance to nature, detached from the system. 

In the picture of his desires was a cob house in the woods, surrounded by the organic food had been growing on his land using permaculture practices… but there was something missing in this picture, it was a blind spot that he hadn’t noticed before but he did now. He was longing for a partner to share this journey with him. He was already fulfilled and happy on his own but he would love to share his presence with someone in a mutually nourishing interaction. 

He had some girlfriends and various levels of depth in a relationship, as well as one night stands, but they’d all left him feeling unsatisfied. It’s like having your oats in the morning but you’re still yearning for something more, or if you dig deeper, something else. He hated the concept of boyfriend and girlfriend. It had never resonated with him. He wanted something more real, more substantial, someone who was shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand with him, a partner who was the other half to his half.

He wouldn’t be leaning on her and she wouldn’t be leaning on him, we would be harmoniously walking along together, side by side.   

He had a great connection with the universe so He declared this and wished for a partner. This wish did not have a flavor of need or necessity, which he find to be the wrong flavoring for such a wish. It was more along the lines of, “He would love to meet her. The One.”  With that unearthed from his psyche and implanted into the universe, He continued his travels.