Many of the most important changes in my life have come about from the phrase “entertain the notion.”
One New Year I was a single potter with two children. My friend Judy, with the same family configuration, was telling me about her plans to work at a camp as a crafts director for the summer. I teach crafts in the schools, I thought, I could do that. I asked if there were any more jobs. “We are still looking for a waterfront director,” she said. “You swim.”
With the possibility came the reality that there was no way I could go away for the summer. What would I do about my house? What about my kids? I had no money. And my Water Safety Instructor certification had expired.
Judy listened. She didn’t try to explain how I could turn each obstacle around. She said only, “Entertain the notion.” 
There was something gentle about those words — something that put the responsibility back on me. Was this idea important enough for me to keep thinking about? I guess so, because the obstacles were easily overcome. The camp’s staff cabin had two bedrooms upstairs and two down, enough for our kids and us. My house could be rented. Furthermore, with one call to the camp director, I discovered that a water safety instructor class was starting next week at Green Mountain College and someone driving from Middlebury could offer me rides.
From that time on, whenever there was an option for change, I would entertain the notion first to see if the obstacles would move out of the way. And the progression became smooth through different phases.
First came a job at a women’s health center, which then became a notion to become a nurse, and I was off to nursing school. After becoming a registered nurse, would I work in a hospital? Yes. And work with teens and build a private practice in energy healing. And the most outrageous notion of all — go to Mongolia.
Mongolia came to me through my private healing practice. One day a client and friend held up the book “Encounters with Qi” by David Eisenberg and said, “You need to go to China. This book shows how traditional and modern medicine work there.”
Since I was a nurse working with energy every day, she thought I could learn how China uses energy in their medical system. When I told her it was impossible financially for me to go there, she offered to trade seven years of weekly energy healing sessions for underwriting a $5,000 tour. This trip with the American Holistic Nurses Association included China and Mongolia.
I never imagined I would go to Mongolia, never wanted to go, but when I stepped on the Mongolian ground, I felt a rush of energy come through my feet up into my body. I soon knew that I needed to make space for Mongolia to become a bigger part of my life.
Later the question in my mind became how could I possibly afford to go to Mongolia again? And how could I possibly leave my clients for a longer period of time to study traditional Mongolian medicine?
But as I opened the space, people helped me with funding and back up for my clients because they saw my curiosity and my purpose. Now a quarter of a century and eighteen trips to Mongolia later, I can see that my relationship with Mongolia transformed my life and at the same time the work I did there evolved.
While starting in health care, I soon noticed that the traditional way of life was at risk. Even though I was a nurse and had no training in filmmaking, I had a notion that I needed to make documentaries to preserve the traditional Mongolian nomadic way of life. And I knew how to embrace it.
I am grateful to Judy for long ago introducing me to the phrase “entertain the notion.” It has allowed me to overcome obstacles and create a fulfilling life.
In addition to her work as an energy healer, Sas Carey is teaching Mongolian culture and life at Lincoln Elementary School this spring. She is also in post-production for “Transition”, her fourth feature documentary, and is writing a memoir.