Another exciting week in the world of a Parelli Social media intern!

I've come to the conclusion that every week here at Parelli Central is unique, I really do love it!

So, first things first, my EXCITING news of the week is that I'm now earning credits as a working student. So, the time spent working a Social Media Intern at Parelli Central will account towards credits, that I can spend on courses and the university program at one of the campuses! Seriously, how awesome is that?!

The next exciting thing, is that we (social media interns Sharon, Gina, and myself) are now allowed to keep horses at the campus. After getting over the disappointment of realizing that my couple of $ in my bank account wouldn't buy me a super horse-transporting jet, I started looking at my potential options... do I lease a horse? Do I use someone else's horse? And if so, from whom?

Okay. Sharon happens to own two horses, both of which are Parellied and have Parelli equipment (my other quandry... do I really want to get a lease horse AND have to buy new equipment?) and it just so happens that Sharon has a 3 horse trailer, so she'll be able to bring both her horses, and Gina's horse, back to the campus next weekend! Of course I'll be using one of Sharon's horses (Beau) and paying for his keep.

Well people, I'm off to Vegas next weekend, and I'll soon have a horse to play with! Yeeeeehaaaaaa....

Loosing control....or is it, learning to trust?

When living in Parelliville, one becomes particularly aware of character types and developing those characters. You’re suddenly reminded of terms such as Left Brain Extrovert, or Right Brain Introvert. Of course, when you don’t have a horse to practice on (and can’t ‘inadvertently’ realize that your horse’s development is strangely similar to your own) you practice on your co-workers, customers, cabin mates, and yourself! After all, the Parelli program is about relationship, and that's possible to achieve across the board - with humans, animals, and as I'm now discovering: computers, teehee. In order to fully enter into a relationship, one has to be aware of interactions. And, it’s almost impossible to interact if one isn’t in-tune with oneself. Being honest about where you're at, and where you're personally developing is a challenge.

I’m a person that likes to have control of my world. I like to be on top of things. I like to feel as if I’ve completed my task list, and that I’m doing brilliantly! But, what about when your world expands so drastically (*BAM!*) that you can’t be in control? What about when people don’t know you as ‘Kerrin the owner of her world!’ but you’re just the girl with the blonde hair? I’ve come to the conclusion that travelling is an exposing thing! There’s nothing quite like being in an entirely new culture, with different accents, lingos, and social conducts. The funny thing is that I could get annoyed with the different cultures, but no, I’M the foreigner in this situation. When in Rome, do as the Roman's do, right? (shhh… we won’t mention that I’m teaching my cabin mate to speak *proper* English. *ahem* "the rain in Spain…") Anyway. So, of course my natural response is to try to master being a ‘roman!’ BUT, when you spend 3 months travelling alone in one country, a weekend in the next country, an afternoon in another, a month in another, and 3 months in another (and ALL are diverse and unique!) you realize that you can’t adjust to fit every country, and every individual’s needs.

Anyway, to return to ‘Parelli lingo,’ I’ve realized that when I don’t feel on top of my world, I retreat inside of myself; I go introverted, so to speak. At times, I’ve been frustrated that I haven’t been my usual, extroverted, opinionated self. But, that’s okay. I’m learning to trust. To trust that even though I’m not perfect, others can depend on and relate to me just the way that I am. Y'know, I'm realizing that community can be depended upon in a less than artificial manner.

I would never have called myself a control freak, or a big fish in a small pond (I’m constantly learning, and finding new puddles and ponds to swim in!) BUT I’m learning so much about giving up the control. About loosing my ‘sanity and maturity’ in a sense, that sometimes, you just have to be. Sometimes, my opinions really don’t matter that much. And that's all okay.

Ohhhhhhh boy! Once again, I'm out of my comfort zone. My Kerrin bubble is being expanded. And y'know what... it actually feels great! I'm alive. I live a wild and precious life. My God loves me. Life is GREAT!

On my finishing note, I've been greatly aware of this quote lately. It's sometimes useful to be reminded of the fact that we only have one life, and that life is a very wild and precious thing!

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Dancing with my friend, fellow intern, and cabin mate-Gina.

Meandering with words

I've decided that Sharon (one of the Social Media Interns, who also shares our cabin) is far better than me at giving daily accounts of life here in Pagosa Springs. Of course the fact that she is camera-happy makes her blog even more lively! Check her blog out:
http://stiesdellsmithpnh.blogspot.com

We had a wonderful evening around the campfire last night. After a BBQ dinner, everyone gathered around the fire for a singsong with their guitars, voices, dance moves (you should see my 'skype dance'!) heel-clickers, and clapping hands. A local musician comes out every week, and leads the singsong. Pat Parelli was there with his guitar, and a couple of my friends on the fast-track sang us a duet. It was amazing fun! :)

I'm in a quandry as to what I should do this evening. There are more songs (with the same musician) at a local pub this evening, most of the people at the campus are going, especially as the media team will be filming for one of the episodes of 'horseman's apprentice.' The other option I have is to stay at the campus, and watch Pat Parelli and some of his students riding... and then again... I'm trying to fit in at least an hour of studying in everyday (I'm aiming to do both a Maths exam and my RYA Yachtmaster exam in October/November) so I guess setting myself up with my papers and brain would be a sensible option... ho hum, I've got too much to choose from.

I'm having a good day at the office. I decided that today was the day to read through dressage blogs... I've found some really informative things, but this quote by Nuno Oliveria (one of the dressage masters) really stood out to me:

"The secret in riding is to do few things right. The more one does, the
less one succeeds. The less one does, the more one succeeds."

Nuno Oliveira (1998, 29)

The quote is not only relevant to riding and horse-handling, but I guess it rings true in all areas of life. The challenge is to learn to channel your time and focus.

On that note, I'm going to channel my time in the direction of food... it's my lunch break!

Parelli Social Media World!

I guess the statement 'time flies when you're having fun' rings true for me! Today marks my third week of being here. While Gina and I comment on the fact that we've been here so long, and don't want these three months to finish, our friends on the fast-track course are all complaining that their four weeks at the campus are over! The group of fast-track students will be leaving this weekend, as will the people participating in the Parelli Level 2 breakthrough course. Things at the campus will probably be quiet for a while, what with only the university students, interns, externs and coaches at the campus for the following week or two!

The past two weeks have been busy, as a lot has been going on in the Parelli media world! First things first, we have another social media intern! Sharon is awesome, and Gina and I are enjoying working with her and sharing our cabin. Early last week, Sue Shoemark, and Neil Pye returned from the UK, along with Pat and Linda Parelli. This resulted in a lot of excitement in the office, and we've had lots of different meetings; quite a bit of brainstorming has been going on. One statement that Pat Parelli regularly makes is: 'the only constant thing in life is change.' This is so true, not only in his approach to life, but with all the things happening in the company and program. Anyway, my bubble of change in the Parelli world is on the social media front, and I think we're all pretty excited about the things going on in the world of Parelli social media: blogger, twitter, facebook, tumblr, and youtube.

I've mostly been involved with blogger and youtube, and doing the tedious task of adding people on twitter! As well as contributing to the Parelli Central blog, I've been reading many different blogs (mostly Parelli student blogs, but also competitive rider's blogs, artist blogs, and online equestrian magazine blogs) and commenting on them where appropriate. It's really good fun, especially when one comment starts off a conversation with about five or six different bloggers!

Anyway guys, I think its time that I get going... catch y'all soon!

~Kerrin

1 week down, 11 more to go!

Hellloooo everyone!! (I know that in one of my Tanzania posts, I greeted you all in Swahili... BUT I think it will be a while before you witness me using cowboy greetings)

Well. 1 week down, 11 more to go. I'm happy, life is good, I'm actually at Parelli Central, for real. I go to sleep in my log cabin to the sound of horses, and I wake up to the sound of horses (yes, and to the sound of my cabin mate's alarm clock, but thats irrelevant right?) Today I bought Parelli clothes (woweee, so nicee) yes, I feel quite official.

The view from my cabin...

Need I say more?

hhmm, those of you who know me well, would understand that I've said enough. It's one of those "phew, Kerrin's happy!" moments.... but, for the detail lovers amongst you (and because I like writing, and I miss sharing the day to day interactions with my precious family and friends) I'll give you a bit of a blow-by-blow account. Rightyho.

So I arrived here on Wednesday evening, after a very long flight. I had my moments on the plane when I was so tired, I just wanted to be back in my bed, and I wondered what the heck I was doing.. I mean, I've just spent the previous 3 months near the bottom of the world, away from my 'normal life' (if you can define normal in my world), why would I want to spend another 3 months away from homebase?! And...I wouldn't even get to play with horses! BUT those thoughts passed as soon as I came close to Durango airport. The excitement built as I noticed the mountains, and open fields, and horses, and cattle, and streets and cars that looked like toys from up high, but became more real as we approached. 'This is real Kerrin. You're doing it. You're living your dream.'

Of course any notion of being tired disappeared as I got off the plane, and prepared to start the next 3 months of my life (and who knows, my commitment to Parelli will most probably go on for longer than 3 months in one form or another...) Gina, my new cabin mate, taxi-service, new found friend, and the other social media intern quickly found me, and we talked the whole way back from the airport! We found that we have a lot in common, and pretty much hit it off from the start.

The scenery en-route from Durango to Pagosa Springs was gorgeous, and the excitement that both Gina and I felt as we pulled into the Parelli Campus drive way was just amazing! Here we were, at the place where a lot of it all started, the venue where so many of the Parelli professional has come from, and educational films had been shot (Gina and I were constantly like: "Hey, that's where Linda filmed the circling game dvd.." and "wow, that's where Pat and Magic did a savvy club demo!")

We quickly found Brett, who basically plays the role of managing all that goes on in social media, and with whom we've corresponded with a lot (I also had my interviews with him). And, it didn't take us much longer to find the food! Wednesday night is BBQ and campfire night at the ranch, so we clearly arrived on a good day, although by now the tired-factor was building up for both of us (Gina had driven across America for 3 days to get to Colorado!) so we only stayed for a couple of songs around the campfire...

Our first day was spent chillaxing, getting to know the people, ranch and offices (Parelli Central is about 5-10 mins drive from the ranch) and Friday was spent at the office... followed by a three day weekend! Over the weekend we were involved with the 4th July parade through Pagosa Springs, and afterwards we had Pizza and Watermelon at the ranch (Pat Parelli was there, so that was awesome!) and on Sunday we went to see a rodeo. Gina was amused that I hadn't been to a rodeo before, and started teaching me how to 'yeeeehaaaa' properly *cough* apparently I'm too British.. or is it South African? hummm

Monday was a brilliant, as being a public holiday, we got the day off, but everyone on the ranch continued as normal! We had great fun joining in with a bunch of the theory lessons, and watching the fast-track student's lessons with their horses, oh and we also watched a couple of demo's by the mastery students and interns...

The rest of the week was spent at the office, familiarizing ourselves with all the cool things going on in the Parelli media world! I'm really enjoying the internship so far, its really interesting. Anyway, I'll upload photos in due course, and I'll also write a post about what I've been up to in the office!

Until next time..... LOVE

I'm in Colorado!

Hi All

Just a quick note to say that I'm safely in Colorado, the flight was as exciting as flights can be, but I had good company, movies, and books... so it was all good! The time zones difference is confusing, but hey, nothing I can't adjust to :)

I can't explain how wonderful it is to be here, and I still can't quite believe that I'm staying on the Parelli ranch, and writing this post from a Parelli computer! Its great...

Anyway, I'll blog whenever I can
Love to y'all (hehe watch this space for more american slang)