Julia: June 2007 Archives
I did my interview with Kala of Explore Your Spirit this evening, and though I think it went well overall, I really wish I hadn't been so all over the map. It started out with Kala asking me to talk about my time in Japan and the illness. For some reason, that always seems to derail me! There is so much to it--so much detail, that I get bogged down. I did try to skim over it, but that seems to contribute to me either not doing a thorough enough job or not saying it in the most effective way! Rick's suggestion was to write it out as an "elevator speech" so that when it comes up, I will already know exactly how much detail to include. The problem with that is that when the energy starts to move, I do not feel a lot of control over how much I say or how I say it! I think the key is to simply trust that I will always say what needs to be said. And that will create it to be so!
I got carried away by the very strong energy that came upon me. It is kind of like being a sailboat that is kind of drifting, but the wind comes along, fills the sails, and then there's no easy way to stop until the sail's direction is reversed or the wind dies. It just came over me and whooshed me away. I hardly even stopped to let her ask questions--something that seems to happen whenever I do a radio show. Fortunately, Spirit has provided very ego-less radio hosts for me to work with. Kala said she just trusts that whatever is supposed to happen will and that when the energy takes over like it did tonight, it is best to stand back and allow it to do its work. How I appreciate that!
Anyway, I believe Kala was pleased, and after the show wrapped up, we talked for a bit. She was so very encouraging and appreciative of Recreating Eden (which she read cover-to-cover as she says she does the books of all the authors she has on her show) but was most excited about the potential of what I'm up to with Easy World. Being that she is a psychic, I took that as yet another confirmation from Spirit that I am on the right track! Do check Kala's site to know when to hear my radio interview. They'll put a link up when it's edited and uploaded and ready to listen to.
On a different note, Stepdaughter #4 (15-year old) has been busy at our house yesterday and today, earning money for her Ultimate Frisbee team trip (remember that I was affirming Easy World in conjunction with having her help in the garden? It worked!) Yesterday, she did some garden work but it was so hot (high of 100), she postponed much of it till today when the high was a blessed 76. She did a fabulous job of trimming, deadheading, pruning, and cleaning up after herself, and she even helped a bit inside the house. I'm so pleased! Here is a photo looking east from my shady Happy Place which includes the results of some of her deadheading--"New Dawn" (white rose) was full of spent blooms but she was very thorough and now it looks so beautiful, don't you agree?
There is lots more going on, but nothing I'm ready to talk about right now, so we'll save it!
Dang! I keep doing this—I delay in blogging then I have too much to say! Oh well. I guess fighting my natural inclinations is futile and certainly not helpful. I’ll just tell you about today and then if I have energy to catch you up on the other stuff that’s happened lately, I’ll do that soon.
This morning, my dear friend since junior high, Donna Michael, flew into Denver for INATS West (International New Age Trade Show) a day early, so I picked her up at the airport and we headed to Evergreen, the lovely foothills town that Rick and I so love to visit. We had a lovely lunch at Creekside Cellars, the little winery I’ve talked about before. The creekside tables were all full when we got there and there were several parties ahead of us waiting, so I just tuned into Easy World and we settled in to wait. I’m not sure what their reason, but apparently several of the groups decided to eat inside instead of waiting, so we were moved up to being first in line and managed to only have to wait about 15 minutes for a table over the creek, which was no problem since we had so much chatting and catching up to do.
Donna didn’t know much about Easy World (you know how it is—sometimes it seems the people who know you best seem to pay the least attention to what you’re doing professionally—especially when you’re a spiritual teacher—you know, the old “a prophet is not without honor except in his own country” thing!). So she asked me to tell her about it, so I did, and, of course, she caught right on. The whole day turned out to be in EW as we kept invoking EW with everything just flowing together perfectly. I won’t go into all the details now, but lots of little magical happenings occurred, and it was easy for Donna to get a feel for what choosing Easy World is about!
After lunch, we went over Squaw Pass (where Rick and I usually go to view the fall leaves) to Idaho Springs. Donna had never seen the Rockies, and though that was not our original plan, once it presented itself to me, it seemed the perfect course of action and it was—we saw some absolutely spectacular views. Another great reason to do it was that it was cool and lovely there and it was 99 degrees in Denver this afternoon!
When we got to Idaho Springs, I managed a parallel parking job that I’m still shaking my head over. I got in a space so tight, there were what seemed like only a few inches between me and the cars in front and behind. I honestly don’t know how I pulled it off other than invoking EW! I wish my driver’s ed teacher could have seen it! We stopped in at my favorite coffee shop there and chatted still more while a rainstorm blew in and blew out.
Then we stopped at the grocery store for Donna to stock up for her stay (she’s staying at a hotel by the Merchandise Mart), and headed back to Denver, which we made in record time even though it was rush hour. I dropped her off at her hotel and I went home and fixed dinner for the girls and Rick.
It was such a great day! Donna and I both have mellowed, so we were quite easy-going (love that term!) and it was a wonderful, soul-nurturing time of sharing and just hanging out together. I had needed some “girlfriend time” and that just filled the bill.
Tomorrow night Rick and I are going to have our belated anniversary dinner (I was busy packing for my NC trip on May 31, our actual anniversary date) at one of our very favorite special occasion restaurants, Mizuna. I’m excited!
I told you in the last entry that I’m reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, given to me as a belated birthday gift by my sister. It is fabulous, and I don’t think it is a gross exaggeration to say that I could be happy to do nothing but read it 24-7, 365. Of course, I would soon run out of book, but you know what I mean. If the woman chronicled every minute of her life, I would be tempted to spend mine reading it! Heaven help me if she ever starts a blog.
Eat Pray Love (as you may already know—seems I’m one of the last people on Earth to read it!) is her memoir of a year that she spent divided among Italy, India, and Indonesia, recovering from divorce. Her writing is delicious—funny, self-revelatory, insightful, light and profound at the same time, it is the perfect balance of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent, like the perfect meal.
And the perfect meal, is, indeed what she seeks in the first third of the book as she searches Rome—indeed, much of Italy over 4 months—for the ideal plate, and describes her findings in mouthwatering detail. I am willing to bet that at this very moment, there are dozens, if not hundreds, on a pilgrimage to eat the same perfect pizza she discovered in Naples. After developing a new ability to devote every day to pure pleasure sans the guilt in Italy (gelato for breakfast is a favorite decadence), and gaining the weight to go along with it, she heads to India to spend the next 4 months in an ashram, where she shares the spiritual insights she develops in a way that, frankly, makes me deeply envious! Her way of describing her emotional and spiritual process, and, oh, by the way, revealing the secrets of the Universe, is simply masterful, and I admit to wishing desperately to have her writing style. Okay--truthfully? I found myself wishing to BE her, and reminding myself over and over about the time I wanted to be somebody else and God said something to the effect of, “But I already have a perfect (her name)—what I need is for you to be YOU because you’re the only one who can fully be that.”
Anyway, I’m now in the last part of the book where she spends 4 months in Indonesia, and I’m already both looking forward to finishing, and wishing it would go on forever. But I have my own books to write and so it’s a blessing it doesn’t!
It was a beautiful late afternoon in the garden today, where I spent some time reading. Here is a view of the pansies with the sunlight coming through them from behind in my Happy Place:
I’m back from my NC visit—I’d call it a vacation, and it was, but I find myself needing a vacation from my vacation! As usual, I packed it full so as to see the most amount of family and friends. It was lovely to spend time with everyone, but I found that I needed to power down and put my identity as spiritual teacher / purveyor of spiritual wisdom aside in order to be on the same wavelength with all but a couple of my friends.
It’s a little odd that something that is the primary part of your life doesn’t even exist to some people—or, perhaps, is a little threatening to them—so you have to rely on other parts of yourself in order to relate. That is very tiring! Not something I’m willing to do very much anymore. But I’m really glad I went and happy and very appreciative that the people I wanted most to see were available for me and despite the challenge to be a chameleon, I had a grand time with them.
Even though many of the people I care very much about either aren’t focused in the same direction I am, are not at the same place as I am, or just plain don’t get my mission at all, there is a connection and a caring that feels important to maintain and this trip was great for that!
I had a powerful experience of following my intuition and avoiding a big problem that I’ll share with you. The day I left to come home to Denver, I drove from my dad’s house in Thomasville back to Raleigh to meet my wonderful, longtime friend, Michelle at the car rental place at RDU. The plan was for me to turn my car in so we could go to lunch and then she could take me to the airport in time to check in. We’ve done this several times over the years, and it works great.
Indeed, this time, everything went off like clockwork as usual, we went to a fun place for lunch, had a wonderful time catching up and then headed for the airport. When we got there, we pulled up to the curbside check in and the skycap informed us that my flight, originally scheduled for 4:54 p.m. was delayed until 8:08 p.m. At this point, it’s a few minutes past 3:00. Five hours to wait? Yikes!
But I am reading a fabulous book (Eat Pray Love) which my sister, Ann, gave me as part of my belated birthday present, so when Michelle offered to take me to her house for a nap (which sounded wonderful), I seriously considered it but something inside said, “Just stay here—things aren’t as they seem with the departure time.” So I invoked Easy World, thanked Michelle and sent her on her way.
I called Ann, who lives in Raleigh to tell her of my dilemma, and she offered to come get me and take me to her house, but I still had the feeling that I ought not leave, so I declined that option as well (but was grateful to know I had a place to stay if my flight got cancelled altogether). I checked when I got to my gate, and they were posting 7:40 as the departure time, so I hunkered down near a restroom and a food vendor to wait, feeling glad at least it was at least 28 minutes less to wait that I had been quoted at curbside.
A nice woman and her business associate were seated next to me and they were waiting for their delayed flight home to Kansas. (Apparently, flight times were messed up all over the country because of a combination of computer problems and weather so there were lots of passengers being inconvenienced, but everyone seemed to be handling it well, thank goodness.) She decided to go to their gate, which was right next to mine, and check to see what the latest word was. Seeing that I had my cane with me (though I hardly used it this trip—yay!) she offered to check for me as well while she was down there and I gratefully accepted.
Good thing I did! When she returned a few minutes later, she said that my flight was about to board! So I went down to the gate and sure enough, though a few minutes’ past the original 4:54 departure time, my flight left at 5:15 p.m. If I had not been tuned into my inner guidance and accepted either Michelle’s or Ann’s invitations, or if I had not seated myself next to that kindly angel from Kansas, I would have missed my flight! And it was not a cheap one this time—we sprang for the expensive ticket so that I could get a seat on the non-stop Raleigh to Denver flight, so I was doubly grateful not to have missed it!
It’s wonderful to be home. More soon!
