Ihad the good fortune to spend a lot of time this summer with my partner’s oldest two children—my “children by choice”—as I helped teach them to drive. During the long hours we spent in the car together, we had wide-ranging conversations about choices, independence and the concept of designing your life. We talked about how our lives and paths are created based on the moment-by-moment thoughts we think and choices we make. It was interesting to converse with them on such themes while witnessing them at the precipice of adulthood as they learned to drive and navigate the new, exciting, intimidating world of adult decision-making. Children today have so much of their lives prescribed to them: from an early age they’re told what time to get up, what and when they eat, how to think, where they spend their after-school time, and more. Life is so regimented that when they are “set free” upon the world as late teens, they are genuinely bewildered by the endless sea of possibilities before them. This reality is starkly reflected by the rising teen drug epidemic and high numbers of teens who don’t make it through their first year of college; they’re simply not prepared to cope with life “on their own.”

It seems to me we can do better to prepare these kids for the wonderful, confusing and endlessly fascinating world we live in. We can start by taking a look at ourselves. I realized during those car conversations that although I certainly knew many of the right words to say, I wasn’t necessarily teaching them by my own actions. “Do as I say, not as I do?” Yes, it applied to me in some areas. With awareness is opportunity for change; I’ve set new personal intentions, including tuning more into my own inner guidance system. We all have one and it functions well with or without us. The question is how much time and energy we invest in developing a strong connection to it and how well we listen when we’re receiving guidance. If the goal is improved life experience, the more, the better!

I hope the articles in this issue provide inspiration and ideas for how you might refresh your commitment to creating your own life experience rather than being an unwitting accomplice to it. Whether you want to travel to gain insight—a la Eat, Pray, Love—improve your intuition or work on achieving abundance goals, this month’s articles provide great blueprints to consider following. We’re not innocent bystanders; whether our experience is good or bad, we play a part. The more honestly we can look at that and own our part, the more potential we have for growth and empowerment. That’s what Natural Awakenings is all about!

October is shaping up to be a busy month in terms of events and happenings throughout the region. Whether you seek great food, family fun, transformative education or inspiration, you can definitely find something that will fill your needs this month! Look for us there… we will be at many upcoming events.

With love and light,

Nicole