The Guesthouse

Once upon a time there was a Guesthouse in a forest next to a castle. This Guesthouse had many guests every day, every week, every month, and every year.  It was very happy to welcome people from all over the world – most of them came from far away kingdoms with Names like the US, UK, China, India or the Neighbor kingdoms Italy and France. Sometimes there were also humans from the Middle-East, North Africa or Sweden and Denmark. It didn’t matter to the Guesthouse where a Person came from, it was happy to give everyone with a good intension and energy a cozy home. It was the happiest when people where sleeping in his beds, when they had food in the dining hall, talked to other guests and when People felt at Home, far away from Home. It was very popular and got many compliments for the location and especially for the people who were running the Guesthouse. At the beginning it was a couple who put every effort, love and their heart and soul into it. They loved to welcome the international Guests and gave them a temporary home. But as the couple got older they had to stop working and retired. 

 

The Guesthouse was confused when the old couple left and felt abandoned. Why did they go? What would happen to him? Who would take care of the Guests? It was afraid and felt lonely until suddenly the Lioness arrived. She had long blond hair and was big. The Guesthouse was scared of her. Who was this woman? The Lioness took over the Guesthouse and hired a man to manage it.

This man was the opposite of the Lioness; he was the kindest soul the Guesthouse ever observed. He was gentle and friendly to all Guests, very helpful and had many language skills. Also there was an older white man – a former knight – which helped the Gentleman. The Knight was old-fashioned, in love with the Kingdom of Japan, learned this special language and sang Japanese Songs. For the Gentleman the old Knight was a bit weird, but still they got along together well. They had a good time managing the Guesthouse and the Guesthouse was happy about the Change. It realized that change is not only bad. It can also change to the better.

On a cold winter day another change happened: a Hippie Girl arrived. It was her first working day in a new place. She never worked before in that industry but somehow she could convince her new Boss – the Lioness - that she was able to do the work there. At least she was open to it and from her travel experience she knew a bit about the Tourism Industry. Now she was on the other side of the desk. She would start her job at the Reception.

 

 

For the next two months she got instructions from her co-worker who would be retired soon. That’s why she was here – to replace him. After that she was mostly alone at the office and with the guests. She and the Gentleman became best work friends and also with the former-co worker, the Knight, she had a good relationship. They shared a lot of interest, like the love for languages and for the Kingdoms in the East.

 

But one day it happened. The Hippie girl was working for about one month alone at the Guesthouse, as suddenly all Guests were cancelling their bookings. What happened? The Guesthouse got confused. In all this years since the Guesthouse were accommodating people from all over the world this never happened! It was afraid. Was it because of the new woman in the office? No, this didn’t make sense. The Guesthouse couldn’t understand. Again, it was afraid of the change. But it remember to observe the situation which was as follow:

 

The Lioness, the Gentleman and the Hippie girl had an important Meeting. They had all serious faces and were discussing something. After the Lioness left the building, the Gentleman and Hippie Girl looked very worried. This continued for a long time and the Guests were worried too. Some couldn’t leave the Guesthouse and had to extend their stay. At first the Guesthouse was happy about that, but soon it realized, that is was not their free will. They wanted to go Home but couldn’t. Many guests were crying in their rooms because they were sad.  It was not their choice to stay. They had to. Something in the human world was going wrong – the Guesthouse observed many talks from guest to guest about this situation and with the Gentleman and Hippie Girl. But the Guesthouse couldn’t grasp it very well. It was still a mystery. 

 

The Gentleman and the Hippie Girl also didn’t understand the situation completely and what it meant for their Jobs and Guesthouse. Would they be fired soon? Would the Guests come back? It was the hardest time ever for them – and also the whole Industry. At least they were so lucky that they were still open – other Guesthouses and Hotels had to close for a long time or didn’t survive the Crisis. 

 

It was in this crisis when one day the Hippie Girl was looking outside the window, observing the birds and squirrels when she suddenly had an Idea. First it was a daydream but soon it became stronger and she wrote it in her Journal – that one day, she wanted to have her own Guesthouse, somewhere in a warm country, surrounded by palm trees. She wanted to give other like-minded people a home, a place where they could practice Yoga, Meditation and many other things who would help them to heal. When she shared this Dream the first time in public, she felt silly for dreaming so big during a crisis. But the Feedback she received was great! Her Friends told her that they wanted to visit this place and supported this Dream. And so the dream became bigger and bigger until she quit her Job in the Guesthouse. She did the first step into turning her dream into reality. 

 

Once more the Guesthouse was sad to say goodbye. Once more it realized that everything changes and that is neither good nor bad. Once more it got remembered to observe the situation and to make the best out of it. The guesthouse saw so many people coming and going, it was always about welcoming humans and saying goodbye. It was always about becoming and unbecoming. It was always about letting go and non-attachment. It was about walking each other home.

Thank you dear Guesthouse. Thank you former knight, Gentleman and Lioness. Thank you.