By Lisa Arie
There has to be something more. It’s crossed all our minds. It’s the phrase that, once it’s popped into your head, you can’t shake. You have to do something. Discover something. Create something. It’s probably this instinct for adventure, for discovery, that has gotten you where you are today, but it’s this same intuitive searching that can also give all of us a sense of restlessness. The next time that question pops into your head, what will you do?
In business, most of us answer this question by creating something bigger and better. But in our personal lives, when we’re looking to go deeper, we often turn to nature. How many times has this motivation to find more meaning in life inspired you to head out into the woods, and take a long hike? It’s a good instinct, a universal one. But consider this: You’re hiking. You round a corner in the trail, come out of the shadows, and you’re facing a bald eagle. Suddenly, the impact of your journey into nature is doubled, even tripled. But why?
The answer is connection, the incredible sense of connection we get when we reconnect back to our true natures, our instinctive beings. We work so diligently in this world of life, business and success to hone our rational thinking. After all, smarts are tangible and rewarded. In seeking the reward, we often negate our instinctual intelligence in our pursuit of intellectual development.
When you come out of the forest, though, and you look into the eyes of another species, there’s a connection. It’s not smarts, it is primal and instinctual, and you can’t deny it; that connection is a fierce one. It sparks something essential and pure. It leaves us craving more.
But we can’t all go wandering around the forest for months at a time, hoping to run into a nonaggressive creature to bond with. Take heart, there’s another way.
Simplicity is the New Luxury
We’ve all been on all kinds of treks and safaris, and they’re great for offering a new perspective. But there is nothing more profound or magnificent as far experiences go than the simplicity of finding a new place in yourself.
It can be complicated, attempting to reconnect with your instinct. It’s a journey through your inner landscape with no travel agents who’ve created tours and maps of the important stops. That’s part of what makes it such a meaningful experience, of course; it’s an adventure where you have to discover yourself. But you do need a guide. In my experience, the best guide is a horse. As intelligent, gentle, and intuitive animals; horses are the ideal partner to show us the bridge between our brains and our natural instincts.
It’s a long story, but to make it short, I came to a point in my life where the phrase “there has to be something more” just wouldn’t go away. No amount of business success or adventurous travel would put that fire out. And then I found my horse. Or rather, she found me. It was on a Colorado ranch, where I had gone to satisfy my craving for something new, something richer in my life, and something back to basics. I came out of the city, out of the shadows of my life and found myself eye-to-eye with a horse, and something lit up. It was a connection to my true nature.
That was the first step in the exploration of my own internal landscape, and now, years later, I, along with my horses led other people to reconnect with their instincts and begin their own journeys to a yet untapped sense of self.
Making the Connection
People often ask how it works, and I tell them: we teach people to let go of the intangible distractions that keep you from connecting and living the truest arc of your existence. If you’re spending time feeling frustrated because you’re so close to what’s essential in life, but not quite there, we understand. Vista Caballo is the place for you.
In other words, in life, we’re each on our own unique trajectory. When we get hooked into it, it’s the greatest ride of all. When we feel like we’re missing it, it’s misery. We can’t quite connect, but we can sense it’s there. It’s one of the most frustrating things you can experience.
And when this connection does happen, let it happen. Think of that surge of adrenaline when you come around the corner and are faced with that unexpected primal connection. It’s not to be feared or avoided, it’s you. It’s something that has finally entered your consciousness that you’ve been preparing for you’re whole life. And it’s a good thing; a very good thing.
The fact you know it’s there: that’s your gift, your instinct. If you’re ready to reconnect with that instinct, your natural inheritance, you can’t get a better teacher than a horse.
When searching for a connection to your own instinct, what makes more sense than to learn from a creature that truly lives with instinct as its guide? Horses are masters of instinct. They live and die by it, and they’ll be the first to let you know if yours is working well. Take one look into a horse’s eyes and you’ll learn more about yourself in an instant than a thousand miles of hiking will ever teach you.
The Ultimate Luxury
It’s the ultimate luxury, taking an exhilarating trip into yourself. What’s more, it’s the only expedition that will deliver sustainable benefits for the rest of your life. We frequently invest in making ourselves more beautiful and attractive from the outside. Upkeep can be exhausting. This is your chance to make that same kind of transformation from the inside. It’s only for the truly brave of heart. It changes everything and that’s because beauty created from the inside only becomes more beautiful with time. It’s that simple.
This article originally appeared in Grand Luxe Issue 111 (pp. 22-25), a Dallas culture, society, and lifestyle magazine.