This month, I am super thrilled to bring back both activity on the Rebel Yogi blog and the Changemaker Q&A series with a friend of mine that I met at last year’s… wait for it… World Domination Summit. Muffadel is one of those people who capture you, pretty much instantly upon meeting them, with their deep sense of the world around them and their place in it. When I put out a call for people to share their stories here and got a response from him, I knew that this was a story that you would all love, and that would resonate deeply with the Rebel Yogi community.
So, welcome back after a winter’s hibernation! Let’s shake off the weight of a season past (and passed) and open our eyes to the beautiful spring that is unfolding around us. I’m so happy to be back – I’ve missed you all dearly!
Without further ado… Muffadel Saylawala!
1. What is the world changing work that you are bringing into existence? (Tell us a bit about what your work means to you and why you think it’s important for the world.)
I am working on creating a regenerative ecosystem. It will be an eco-lodge that grows its own food and is built from natural/recyclable materials. I’m creating a space where can learn about living a holistic life through experience. My hope is to integrate all things good, sustainable, green, eco under one roof. I’m building a bridge between ecology, business and society. A place where hippie types and discerning parents co-create.
2. What was the moment or situation that made you realize the way you were previously approaching your work was unsustainable? And, how did you find your way back to balance out of those challenges?
I’ve been preparing my entire life, unconsciously. Consciously, I’ve been studying this idea for two years. I was stuck in a rut before this, a really bad one. Everything I tried failed – from startups to relationships – and I couldn’t stop beating myself up about everything. I couldn’t shake it, until I reached a breaking point.
I let go of all the expectations. I let go of trying so hard to make something fit, to impress someone. I was just going back to my own element. I was escaping into my ‘comfort zone’ which is ironically a journey to a foreign country to purposefully stretch my comfort zone. It fucking worked like magic.
I let myself wonder. We stayed at a few eco-lodges. It was something I had heard about before, but wasn’t so familiar with. Eco tourism began in Costa Rica. I was confused though, I didn’t understand what ‘eco lodge’ actually meant. I couldn’t figure out what was so eco about the places we saw. It started to bug me more and more, I felt like people were using this term eco and cheating or something. I started wondering about what it would be like if I made my own eco-lodge. I thought we’d grow our own food, have tours that connect with people in the community and be a place that serves travelers, decidedly not for tourists.
This seed had been waiting for me. It made so much sense. This is what I was meant to do. I was meant to become the person that created such a space. It was my unique calling. I had the business acumen, the passion, the green heart, the travel experience and the hippie life experiences. I stepped into my personal legend.
3. What are you doing differently now – how are you maintaining a balanced place moving forward?
I’m going with the flow. I’ve opened up into this space of perpetual happy coincidences. The more I let it happen, the more it keeps working.
One thing led to the next to the next to the next and I’ve been dancing my way through a synchronicity slipstream for the last two years.
I’m happy. Like really, truly happy.
I’ve stepped into myself. I’m not as ashamed anymore. I don’t raise my voice; I don’t get angry. I’m dancing around naked at the top of Maslow’s box for self actualization. I feel blessed every day. I gave it to myself and I let myself have it.
4. If you could give that past self one piece of advice or guidance, what would it be? Or, if you wouldn’t change anything, why not?
Who you’re going to be ‘when you grow up’ is not the same as a job or even a livelihood filled with passion. You will be remembered not for the things you were supposed to do, nor the things you ended up creating, but rather, for the human that you became. The key is wanting to be who you already are.
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