Ever since I was a little girl, I have noticed that phenomenon where once you get tuned into something, you begin to see it everywhere. Of course, as a child, this was mostly experienced in the form of simple, visual things — such as colors, types of cars, facial hair. In being determined and active in my pursuit of spiritual and self discovery, I’ve encountered a truck-load of opportunities almost daily.
One great side note to these opportunities is that they totally fall into my resolve to do at least one new thing a month this year. I am wasting no time on that one! (an unrelated side note to this side note: I LOVE Vampire Weekend’s song “Oxford Comma.” I’m listening to it now and must pause in my typing to sing along and maybe dance around a bit.)
Here are the things I’ve discovered so far: 1) Labyrinths — a tool used for deep thought and meditation. The path of the labyrinth symbolizes the path to your center, where things become clear and the answers to your problems reside. I plan to visit one tomorrow. 2) Meditation — I’ve already written on this a bit. Portland has a lot of open meditation offerings, many different practices. I’d like to keep trying them until I find one that feels perfectly suited to me. I am returning to the Shambhala Meditation Center this Sunday for a three hour group sit. 3) Munay-Ki rites — these are emotional, spiritual healing rites from the Q’ero tribe of Peru. My shamanic healer offers them with her husband and I am going to receive the 9 rites of initiation (that sounds “culty”, but it’s not — it’s a gentle, energy-based force of love, protection and healing so that your self can achieve perfect balance and contribute to the perfect balance of our world). This also opens up a chance for me to meet two Q’ero shamans who will be in Portland in September. I am in awe of this opportunity. An invitation to the fire can be acquired for me, I am told. 4) Hawaii — I want to travel to Hawaii as a volunteer for two weeks at the Hari-Nama Retreat Centre where I will “experience an awakening of the soul.” 5) Distance healing — I found a website for a healer in England. She offers “distance healing,” which involves her sending good vibes and healing, loving energy to those who request it for the problems they need help with. I wrote her and asked her to send me some healing to help me to recover emotionally, learn to let go and move on. Here is her response:
”I will be happy to send distant healing to you. You have a clear idea of wanting to let go and that is admirable as not many people realise the importance of being able to do just that. It should stand you in good stead to achieving it. Very best wishes.”
Reading this response from her was my first contact with the outside world this morning. It was like someone had wrapped a giant, snug blanket around me and told me I’d be okay. Better than okay, actually. And I believed them.
