Seriously? SERIOUSLY??

The past two weeks have been gloriously threaded with golden, flat-out magical moments.  For a goosebumpy example, look no further than yesterday.

Our December Fridays were delightfully busy with taking a beloved friend to & from a weekly lunch date, up in Bethlehem.  Everything about it was a joy - the miles sped by, the outing always ended before John & I were ready.  Then Fate stepped in & suddenly our Fridays were free.  I anticipated mornings & afternoons dedicated to clearing out & cleaning up the house.  

Not so fast!

The frabjous Patricia Gallagher invited me to an event at Pillars of Light & Love*,  at the Empowering U center in Trappe - about the same distance as Bethlehem, but west. 

I'd be driving right past where my brother lives, so we set up a lunch date.  

What a beautiful drive out!  Took back roads, drove through places dear to my heart, got there with a moment or so to spare, had a glorious time.  Missing next week's gathering, due to taking Tuesday night's  Manifest Your Dreams workshop.  Friday's gathering was so what I needed, the workshop is promising - and John will come, too.   

Alas, lunch didn't turn out as hoped.  Peter & I got in a lovely visit, but he wasn't up for an outing.  So glad I got to see him.  


Which left me eating solo.  Praise be, I'd brought Lissa Rankin's Anatomy of a Calling along.  She kept me company while I tackled a grilled veggie hoagie at Pudge's.  Special fun - the southern gents in the booth next to me were about to sample their first-ever Philadelphia Cheesesteak, at the best place around for their introduction.  The one fellow wanted to be sure we all knew he COULD have eaten the whole thing, but was taking the remaining half back to his wife!

Was feeling pretty darn contented, polishing off half of my gloriously gloppy veggie hoagie (John got the other), indulging in Pudge's decadent cheese fries, using the heavy napkin holder to keep my book open so I could read & eat at the same time.

Lissa's book grabbed from the first page.  John's probably tired of hearing how it feels like it's written for ME. Each night up at Rowe, after the workshop & before turning in, I'd settle into the big comfy chair in my beautiful room & read until I got drowsy. 

Lissa was a traditional medical doctor who'd entered the field to be a healer but left when she felt anything but.  But this very traditional, type A kept hearing a call, kept feeling pulled to attend Esalen, which she found strange as the new agey-ness of it seemed light years away from her practical, grounded self.  But I'll let Lissa tell the tale:


During my medical training, any alternative medicine practice, mind-body medicine notion, faith healing, medical intuitive, or energy medicine rumblings were met with derision & scorn by my professors, my fellow students & most of the people in my family.  (her father was a doctor)  If I expressed any curiosity in such woo-woo notions as a medical student or resident, the people in the intellectually elite circles I inhabited rolled their eyes at me.  I didn't want to be flagged as a quack.

So when the increasingly persistent voice of my Inner Pilot told me I was supposed to go to Esalen, I could just hear (her late) Dad laughing at me from wherever he was.  But the guidance was so clear, I couldn't ignore it anymore, so I flipped through the Esalen workshop catalogue.  By this point, it had been 9 months since I had officially left medicine, and I had written I Don't Do Men, a book about my life as a doctor.  So, when I saw a workshop with Nancy Aronie titled "Writing from the Heart,"  I signed up.  After all, how scary could a writing workshop be."


Time actually did seem to stand still.  My heart raced, my breathing went shallow.  It was NOT possible.  I could not have read that.  Wasn't possible.  

I put down the hefty half hoagie, wiped my fingers & turned back to the book. Had I imagined it?  No how, no way - Lissa Rankin's first writing workshop was the same as mine?  The one I took this same book to & read before going to bed?  Nancy's?  Writing from the Heart?  Seriously?  SERIOUSLY??


People ask me, usually infused with disbelief, "What do you mean, you see magic threaded throughout your life?"  THIS is what I mean.  

My Fridays suddenly, without any effort on my part, are freed allowing me to  be part of a circle I'd didn't know about last week ago at a place I'd never heard of that opened less than a year ago that offers a workshop that answers a current crying need & is not far from my brother so I could invite him to lunch but he couldn't make it so I'm in the midst of my type of happy meal when I discover that the author of the book I'm devouring went to the very same workshop I attended this time last week.  

That might strike others as coincidence; I call it blessings, magic, wonders of wonders.  And I say, "Thank you, Universe!  Thank you!  And, if it pleases you, please keep 'em coming, because they sure please delight intoxicate me!"

Seriously.  SERIOUSLY!!!
 

 

* Pillars of Light and Love offers educational workshops and is located at the Empowering U Center in Trappe, PA. Donations raised for Pillars Of Light and Love may fund many workshops and may be used to provide free services at the Empowering U Center, such as Massage, Life Coaching, Emotional Freedom Technique, Myofascial Release and other Anxiety and Stress Relief services to those with serious illnesses, Caregivers of Special Needs Children and Adults, as well as Disabled Veterans. These services are also available to the general public. 

Credits:
1) Esalen
2) Pillars of Light & Love
3) bestevents.us
4) naturallyorganiccenter.com