Day 1—August 9, 2013 Today is August 9, 2014.. one year ago today I was flying to Albuquerque, NM. From there, I would be renting a car and traveling about in NM, a small portion of CO and UT, and finally AZ.. returning to SC six weeks later on September 20th. Time to share the stories and some pictures! I had a few places on my bucket list, but there was no “plan” to speak of. So how did this adventure come about? Good question. I had been feeling a deep restlessness, or more accurately.. a “discontent” for several months. There was no rhyme or reason for it. For the most part, I’m a pretty happy person and am grateful for the Grace that is so readily available. The last time I felt this kind of discontent, I ended up moving from a lifetime in MD to SC in 2007.. so it crossed my mind it might be time to move again. Nothing could have been further from my thoughts. I love being near the water, feeling the salt air.. a soft breeze.. like the fingers of a loved one brushing their hand across my closed eyes and through my hair.. clearing my aura of anything that didn’t belong there. Planting my feet deep in the sand, I ground myself.. like the palms that grace our beaches and sway to the gentle breeze and sound of birds calling and barely audible chatter of children playing. Life is good here. So.. move? I don’t think so. The discontent persisted, and it became clear that this was Spirit-driven. When Spirit wants you to do something, the feeling can be relentless. Didn’t really have a clue what it was all about but knew I had to go out West. So I started doing some research to figure out where to start and what needed to be on the bucket list. Had no idea how much driving was involved or if I wanted to establish a schedule. No idea if I would want to stay any particular place or just consider it a day trip to any given location. So there wasn’t much of a plan. For those who don’t really know me, I am an emotional empath. I am not a mind-reader, but I feel things from people, and sometimes there is the occasional conversation with those on the other side. These sensitivities extend to physical locations, and I feel history through my emotional body, taking on the feelings we associate with long-gone people who have been there.. their happiness, their losses, their tears.. so many things. Have to tell you.. before I knew I was an emotional empath, there was no way I understood the ups and downs of being a living sponge for the multitude of “stuff”. It took a while to learn to separate myself from the experiences of others. All those “flashes of inspiration” you get? May not be yours at all! Things would come as a symbol, or I would actually hear a word or two, or feel compelled to say or do something without really knowing why. You just have to do it. Over the years, I’ve learned to pay more attention to the subtle things that catch my attention.. a program on TV, a conversation with others, maybe see a clue in the form of a book or even a FB posting. I’ve also learned to talk to Spirit out loud. It seems that just having a thought isn’t enough.. if you make it verbal, it gives Spirit permission to interact with you. Things began with emotional clues. As I got older, it was accompanied with some visual prompts. The last development was actually hearing words. This comes in handy when you lose things like your car keys. I apparently misplaced my keys one day. Looked in all the usual places for them. When that little edge of anxiety starts to filter in, I know that only complicates things, so I stopped and asked (out loud) for help finding them. At that point, I made myself do something totally unrelated.. I didn’t want to focus on the issue as a problem. Within a few minutes I got a “thought flash” and a very brief picture of my sofa. I said “Really?” I walked to the sofa and stared at it. I did not see my keys.. but I trust this process.. so I explored further. The sofa is a series of recliners, so I opened the section where I normally sit. No keys. At this point, I had to put my hand down the back of the recliner to feel along the portion I couldn’t see. There they were! I had totally forgotten about being exhausted the previous day. I came in the house with groceries in my hands. The house phone was ringing. I always put my keys in the same place, but for whatever reason, I felt the need to stop and stretch out for a little while. The keys slipped out of my pocket into the confines of that sofa. This is a very simple example of how Spirit can help you if you are paying attention and/or let them know what is needed. People wonder why life seems like a bunch of doors that stay firmly shut, slam in your face, or open easily to the next room. If you force your way into those difficult rooms, you probably won’t like that experience. Even if you are initially disappointed you didn’t get a dream job, or a love interest hurt you.. trust that whatever happened was in your best interest and ask for direction. I always joke about having “people” or having “truth serum in my aura”. It’s true, and these things play a part in my soul journey almost every day now. On early August 9th, a friend drove me to the Charleston airport. Southwest doesn’t fly out of Savannah, GA (which is much closer). I was grateful for the help. I intentionally chose to travel in the summer, not only because I thought maybe the hot weather would deter a lot of tourists, but also because of packing lighter clothes and saving space in the suitcase. I managed a suitcase and carryon using my camera case to carry my tickets, license, etc. I never carry a purse.. just what fits in my pocket to go anywhere, so I made out just fine—room to spare if I wanted to pick up some things during my travels. When I got on the airplane, it was a full house. An attractive, well-dressed young black woman sat next to me. Although she was very composed, I was feeling a lot of anxiety coming from her and realized this was probably her first flight. We were due for a brief stopover in Chicago before continuing to Albuquerque, so I struck up a conversation. It was her first flight, and she was a little nervous. So I explained what to expect when we took off and the bumpy portion through the clouds, possibly turbulence with the headwinds and when we were due to land. My “truth serum” kicked in.. she talked about her family and was looking forward to seeing them. She had a special friend who was picking her up. I felt that tingling all around my head while she was talking and knew Spirit was present and listening in. We had a great conversation about Spirit and the “other side”. I sensed she had gifts she hadn’t explored yet. As we started to descend to Chicago, she turned to me and said “You know.. I’m going to be 40 soon, and I don’t want my life to be all about work. There has to be more.” I told her if she understood that at 40, she was way ahead of the game, and I truly wished her luck with that discovery. We said our good-byes, and I never saw her again. The flight from Chicago to Albuquerque was full. I can remember when smoking was allowed.. so grateful it’s not permitted anymore! Finally arrived in Albuquerque. It was about 11:00 their time. Much to my dismay, it took me almost 2 hrs to get my luggage and rent a car (I had made a reservation). Well.. they didn’t have a clue what to do with someone who wanted the vehicle for six weeks and would be leaving it in Phoenix, AZ when done! I’m a very patient person, but there is no place to sit while they are trying to figure what the heck to do. It was already a really long day! In the end, they gave me a Toyota Prius, which kind of pleased me. I had been looking to trade in my 4-Runner and wondered if a hybrid would be workable for me. Now I have the chance to find out! It was a snappy-looking rich red color and had a remarkable amount of storage for such a small car. The inside design made you feel you were in a much larger vehicle. Very nice! I thanked Spirit for that perk. I was anxious to get on the road.. not sure how far I had to go and was pretty tired by the time I got it in motion. Was headed to Ojos Caliente.. a hot spring location.. something on my bucket list. I had never been to one. It’s located between Taos and Santa Fe. I stopped to get a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen and water. I had made reservations at the Taos Trail Lodge… right across the street from Ojos Caliente. Finally arrived around 4:30. I was exhausted. The area wasn’t exactly well populated and I started thinking about some dinner. Needless to say, I was relieved to find the Lodge had a dining room, and treated myself to a nice steak dinner! The place is run by a lovely couple. Since it was a little early for most people, I was the only one the dining room. The wife came over and started a conversation. It was the first time someone asked me “What brings you here?” I was to hear this repeated everywhere I went. Nobody blinked an eye when I said “Spirit sent me.” I told her my story.. about the adventure, and for whatever reason.. how I felt I was there to remember rather than discover something new. August 31st would be the third year of losing my husband, Nate to cancer, and I was going to be 70 in November. This was something we had talked about, but we never got the chance to make that trip. Even though he made his transition, he didn’t go very far. Happenings in the house made it clear he was close by. When I talked to him about going out West and asked him what he thought about that, the light came on in one of the entertainment center cabinets. It’s his way of letting me know he’s listening. I didn’t want to reach the end of my own life regretting putting off something or wondering what it would have been like to have made this trip. Spirit made it clear I had to do this. The wife talked about her Mom, who had passed a year before. “June May” was her name. I could hear the wistfulness in her voice and feel the sense of loss she was experiencing as she spoke in loving terms about her mother. I felt compassion for her as I bid her a good evening and headed for my room. “Rustic” would be an appropriate word to describe my accommodations, complete with deer head on the wall. When I checked out the bathroom, I found you had to actually go up a couple of steps to get in the shower.. strange arrangement. Made me chuckle. At this point, the full impact of my first day hit me. I was totally exhausted. Noticed a pressure in my chest when I arrived at the Albuquerque Airport. Now.. with no distractions, it was clear this was contributing to my exhaustion. It took little effort to leave me winded and fatigued. This was my first introduction to the altitude change that would stay for me for the whole six weeks. I’ve been living on the East Coast all my life and in SC for the past six years. It was about 2” above sea level, and now I’m taking in my first night at 7500-8000 ft! It would change over the course of the trip. It got better when I got to Sedona at 4000-4500 ft, but it definitely rearranged my thinking about what I expected to do physically. When I crawled into bed, my thoughts turned to the wife and her mother, and I told Spirit I felt a little guilty because the conversation seemed to make her sad. The response came quickly “She would have felt that way anyhow.” I persisted.. was there anything I could do to help her feel better about things or smile? “Ask her about the cat.” What? Did I hear that right? “Ask her about the cat.” Okay.. I’ll do that. And with that, my eyes closed, and I remembered nothing until the early morning light reflected off the walls of my room.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 21:38:50 +0000
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