Homecoming

What I learned about the feminine on our road trip

A painting I bought in Key West this year, in my meditation closet

To hear the related 5-minute audio file that I uploaded today as my Morning Journal flash briefing for Alexa devices, please click on the play button:

Where the Flow Goes Next

Here are three of my favorite quotes from Mirabai Starr in last night’s final session of her seven-week “Awaken the Mystic Within” course:

Don’t fall for the trick that we have it all figured out.

Let intentional stillness be the rock in the river where you sun yourself.

Become an explorer of the sacred ordinary, a connoisseur of the holy mess, a devotee of what is.

During Darlene’s and my 20-day drive from Maine to Sanibel, I Zoomed to three of Mirabai’s sessions. They became the soundtrack of the trip for me.

Each night Mirabai read an excerpt from her new book, Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life as Sacred Ground. Last night the excerpt included this:

The more you make yourself available for mystical moments, the more they come flowing into the open field of your everyday life.

We returned home yesterday afternoon to a holy mess of broken stuff: the garage door opener, the front door lock, the elevator, and my printer. As a bonus, an electric line had been cut in our neighborhood, so the power was off until after dark.

To escape the heat, we drove to Cielo, our favorite Sanibel restaurant.

There was a table for two in the bar. We ordered mocktails and hors d’oeuvres and read our Kindles with Sophie in her black bag next to us. “The lights are on at your house,” a neighbor texted us. We slept well amidst dirty clothes and unpacked suitcases.

This morning on the lanai, we had Nespresso and talked about our trip.

I told Darlene that Mirabai’s course and visits we had with friends and family made me curious about the feminine perspective on life and spirituality. As in, for starters, less certainty, more vulnerability with friends, conversations that last longer.

I recently heard someone recite a prayer I had never heard before:

When I’m between a rock and a hard place, let me be water.

Before dawn, as I was having my quiet time before Darlene and Sophie woke up, I imagined the start of a story.

I met a woman on a drive from Maine to Florida. Her nickname is Vitamin D. Amazingly, she decided to stay.