From Work to Oneness Blog

I’ve now had the good fortune of having not one but two encounters with the Sacramento Headwaters gardener. Today my new friend Tonya and I went to fill up on water and just as I asked her if she had yet met the gardener, there he was.

What ensued was another blissful conversation about life being a big game we’ve decided to play, in which we purposely make things hard, only to have them be easy again. Why did we do this? We were bored and looking for something to do! He said he can’t do the make things easy part for us, we have to do this ourselves, but that we’ve already done the hard part—building up the ego, creating the illusion of separation, etc. He likened it to a roller coaster ride: we’ve made ourselves “up,” now we’re at the top, and getting ready to freefall into the wildest, funnest ride of our lives….

He also said how each of us has a plan, a higher divine plan, we decided upon when we came into this life—what our lives were to be about—and now it’s simply a matter of letting that unfold, allowing it to play out, etc. To do this we need to surrender, trust the divine flow, and get out of our own way.

Not only was I just overjoyed to see the gardener again and receive some of his wisdom (my wisdom, our wisdom, since we are all one consciousness anyway), I also noticed (he did too) just how much I had changed in the week since we had first met. He said “You’re just having a ball, aren’t you?” I nodded joyfully. He said staying around for a while would be good for me, and I assured him I’d be here for at least the summer. He said “Good.”

Our first meeting last week seems like an eternity ago…I am in such a different place, as Mt. Shasta has been working its “magic” on me—I am living in the moment more…I am more relaxed, trusting, surrendered, freer, more peaceful and accepting, and more alive and awake than I have ever been. And, as the gardener said at the end of our meeting today, “We’ll continue….”

A few days ago, my new friend Alexander & I met “the gardener” who watches over the gardens at the sacred headwaters of the Sacramento River…I later found out he is known in the city as someone you definitely want to meet & have an experience with. At the time, he appeared as just an ordinary old man, but when he started talking with us, it was obvious he was a highly elevated being (Mt. Shasta is known for its abundance of interdimensional teachers and I believe he was one of them). As he spoke his words of wisdom, it really felt as if God were speaking directly to us. It was a truly mystical experience. His main message was: Life is a big game, so have fun with it, lighten up, don’t take everything so seriously, don’t get so attached to your possessions, your ego & personality, or even your name & identity…Because of course, we are all so much more than any of those things…Our true identity is beyond labels or categorization of any kind.

He also gave us a lesson in seeing auras. He sat on the ground with his back against his small white pickup truck and instructed us to first see the charged white light (I call it an electric glow) around his physical outline, and then to notice the colors in his aura. He may have been magnifying things for us, but, for the first time, I saw the auric energy body and colors! I even saw a small rainbow halo above his head! And this morning after my morning practice, looking at myself in a mirror with a white background behind me, I saw my own rainbow aura around my physical body. Not only this, but everyone and everything looks more alive now, like I am seeing the life force in all that is….

For me there was a huge lesson is really paying attention and being fully present to whoever crosses my path—especially here in Shasta, but everywhere—because you never know who you are going to meet and what kind of experience you will have in meeting them. So it’s important to stay open and non-judgmental, and to treat everyone we meet with kindness, love, and compassion, as the expression of the Divine that they are. Here more than anywhere, I am learning that people can be very important messengers communicating the highest vibrations of wisdom and love—if we are but open to receiving these precious gifts.

LOL! You know what they say about “drinking the water”…Well, around here (Mt. Shasta), people bring JUGS to fill up at the mystical and sacred headwaters of the Sacremento River. It is truly a magical place with magical water…It (among other things) called me back here. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted more delicious and love-filled water in my life! This coming Sat, there’s even a gathering of people in the community here to “priestess the headwaters,” with singing and drumming to send even more love and good mojo into the water!

So after manifesting an awesome ride down to LA with my new Shasta friend Lori, I attended the Lightning in a Bottle festival on Irvine Lake in beautiful and sunny So Cal….There I got to hear and meet Michael Beckwith, experienced some profound healing and transformation through cathartic dance, movement, yoga, playing with chakras and the five elements, witnessed some mind blowing, “otherworldly” sacred artwork, music, and performance, as well as took in the gorgeous natural scenery….However, I dearly missed Mt. Shasta with a surprising homesickness…And so, instead of going back to the East Coast with my friend Kimberly Beroset with whom I had done most of the trip with (2 weeks on the road together), I decided instead to ride back up to Mt. Shasta with my friend Lori, who was down visiting family for the weekend. The “flow” both there and back seemed so easy & effortless….

Even better, I came back up to Shasta not knowing exactly where I would stay, but again, everything just fell into place. Lori is the “house mother” of a “blended ashram” type of house, a communal living situation with multiple families (of different spiritual traditions and cultural backgrounds) living together in the same house. It’s truly lovely. I’ve been staying here for the week (Mon-Sat) and helping out both around the house and on the property here. For example, the past three days, I’ve been “clearing the land” around the house of dead wood and hauling multiple loads in a pickup truck to a place where it will all be taken to be recycled into wood chips, etc. Through connecting with the earth here in Mt. Shasta—the place where Heaven meets Earth—I’ve also been doing some emotional “clearing” of my own, releasing even more “dead weight” within me, anything still holding me back from fully living my purpose here…Needless to say, it’s been very healing and rejuvenating (albeit hard work).

I’ve also been re-connecting with my soul family here, attending events and engaging with the community at The Flying Lotus Movement Center, all the while seeing how I fit in here. Both the mountain and city seem to be embracing me as one of them and for that I am extremely grateful, deeply happy, and profoundly at peace. I am also more and more living in “the now moment,” and feeling the fullness and potentialities of that rich moment.

In this moment, I am feeling called to stay on here even longer, perhaps a week or so, as it feels like there is more for me to explore here. However, much like two weeks ago (was it really only two weeks? or was it two months ago?), I don’t know where I’ll stay past tomorrow…But I have a strong intuition that tonight, at a “Mother of All Heal This World” concert, I will meet people with whom that flow will happen and the next perfect divine situation will reveal itself. I am trusting the flow of life that always protects and supports, most of all when we fully relax into it and let it carry us where we need to go.

It has been an incredible past few days here in the city of Mt. Shasta. I’ve re-connected with some long-lost “family” here and had some amazingly powerful experiences, many of which cannot be captured in words. For example, at the Flying Lotus Movement Center here a group of people have been doing a certain kundalini chant every day at 5am for I forget how long. And I have done it the past three days in a row, and each time, very transcendent experiences have occurred.

Yesterday, I had a memorable experience of oneness. I lost consciousness of myself as a body as I felt myself dissolve into the oneness of all that is. I felt myself as a pure soul, merged with everyone and everything in the world. I wasn’t thinking; I was pure being. I felt my energy field expand to include all. The infinity symbol loop of energy that is part of the mantra that was being chanted was present throughout my experience in a variety of formats. It is hard to express all of it here, but the feeling was that of peace and presence, of connection with all of life and all that life has created.

At this morning’s chanting, I experienced a powerful initiation by the Great Goddess. I am still taking this morning’s events in on a cellular level, but it was very empowering and I feel a gift to me to help empower others to awaken the goddess within. More on this later….

Today is my last day in the city of Mt. Shasta. I have had wonderful connections with people here and will miss them when I leave (but I will definitely be back to visit)! I indeed manifested a ride to LA, as I’ll be leaving at 5am tomorrow, traveling with a new friend from here, Lori, and her kids on the 10-hour drive to LA. From there, I’ll be heading to the Lightning in a Bottle Festival at Oak Canyon Ranch near Irvine, CA…where I’m positive many more amazing sychronicities will occur, connections will be made, and transformation happen. I am open to the wonderful gifts waiting for me from the experience!

So I had an aMAzing evening last night. I discovered The Flying Lotus Movement Center which hosts all kinds of cool events i.e. yoga, dance, and more. Last night at the Sufi dancing, I felt like I’d found more tribe, family I didn’t know I had here in Mt. Shasta. The owner, Graell, was gracious enough to invite me to sleep overnight in the “temple” within the studio, an elaborately decorated, energy-filled space that exudes love and oneness. The entire studio is filled with high vibrational art, statues, books, music, altars, and much more. It was an honor to spend the night in such a consciously co-created space! (btw, she will be in Shasta, then moving her space to Ashland in the fall)

The lesson for me from yesterday (and throughout the trip) is “just trust,” just know I am always abundantly provided for by the limitless Universe, and there are always an infinite number of possibilities and people showing up in synchronistic ways. I find when I’m in the flow, more opportunities come to me, more doors open up, than if I am stressed or worried or, worse, trying to control the situation.

For example, I am also intending to manifest a ride from Mt. Shasta either Wed or Thurs to LA, where I’ll be attending the Lightning in a Bottle festival. It just so happens that one of my newfound “family” here is heading down that way and we may be riding down together…More to come on that tomorrow…The flow continues….

It has been a FULL 5 days since I last wrote! I’m in Mt. Shasta and have started to enter that space where words seem irrelevant…And yet, I will try to capture the magical time I’ve been having here….

Kimberly and I had a blast in Ashland, OR. We had a wonderful lunch with Tony Burroughs (founder of The Intenders), shared stories of manifestation, and all inspired each other! Many more synchronistic meetings abounded in Ashland, including three important encounters at Alex’s, the bar we went that night. We’ve really been experience people as divine messengers, each one we encountered having a purpose on our path. We didn’t want to leave, but Mt. Shasta was calling….

We spent three amazing days together at Stewart Mineral Springs Resort in Weed, CA (yes, the town is called Weed!). It was a powerful place of healing of high vibrations, and both Kimberly and I received many powerful messages from a variety of sources (more will be detailed in our upcoming book). We also did a lot of self-care (especially needed after two weeks on the road!)—detoxifying mineral baths, sauna, massages, scrumptious food at the restaraunt there, and more….It was an incredible place to heal and soothe our bodies, minds, and spirits. I highly recommend it as an awesome place for a getaway/spa/retreat! (I’ll definitely be going back—when it’s warmer and ideally not snowing!)

Today Kimberly headed down the Pacific coast to do a workshop in Esalen in Big Sur, CA. I’ve rented a car so I can explore the Mt. Shasta area a bit more. I felt called to stay here longer, and am having the most amazing experiences. There is a store here called Soul Connections I just got lost in…It has books, CDs, statues, crystals, etc. covering just about every single spiritual/metaphysical tradition you could think of—from ascended masters/saints/sages to ancient Egypt/Atlantis/Lemurian to Buddhism Greek mythology to shamanic healing to crystal skulls to soul mates to…you name it, it was there…If you ever come to Mt. Shasta, it’s a rich resource of all kinds of high vibrational paths!

Today I also drove up Ma Shasta herself (what they call the mountain around here, to honor her maternal healing divine energies). Because of the recent snow, I could only drive up to Bunny’s Flats at 6950 feet…not even half of the 14,162 high majestic beauty! It was awesome, to say the least (and when I figure out how to add pictures to my blog, I will post some).

Tonight, I’m hanging out in the city of Mt. Shasta and going to a Dances of Universal Peace in a 1/2 hour. I don’t know where I’m staying tonight, but intending to manifest some new friends and a cozy warm place to stay tonight! Hail to the power of manifestation! Stay tuned for more adventures….

Well, it has been an amazing 5 days in Portland—or as I now like to call it, “Portaland.” I feel like our whole trip leading up & including  Portaland has been a shift of consciousness into another time/space reality altogether. Driving through Montana, Washington, and then Oregon, particularly through the Columbia River Gorge approaching Hood River, was like driving through Heaven on Earth. I felt a strong past-life connection to the land and had some other amazing spiritual experiences.

Then, while I experienced Portaland itself a bit (going downtown, riding the TriMet bus, the MAX electric tram, watching a plethora of transportation modalities along the Willamette River in Waterfront Park…going to an Ecstatic dance event…eating scrumptious, healthy, vegan food…meeting the most super friendliest—and happiest—people I’ve ever met!), the best part about my time here was the entire weekend I spend inside reading books on past lives, conscious dreaming, and the dynamics of astral travel—all topics I’ve been intending to learn more about and which Kimberly & I were also talking about on the road. Talk about instant manifestation, as our host just happened to have books on all these topics and more! And what is astral travel but about using the power of the mind to create whatever reality we want, to transcend the boundaries of time and space, and experience ourselves as the limitless beings we are?

Now we are sitting at The Tea Zone & Camille Lounge, a cozy little cafe in The Pearl district in downtown Portland, eating a delish meal & staying connected. They serve tea-infused drinks here! Next, we are on our way down to Eugene and Ashland (OR), Mt. Shasta (we’ll spend a few days here), and then to Big Sur (Kimberly’s doing a workshop at Esalen, I’m camping by myself). After that, I’ll be attending the Lightning in a Bottle festival in Irvine, CA…I intended to see Michael Beckwith on this trip, and I am going to, as he will be presenting at this festival!! Way to manifest!!! (also just found out synchronisitically that Tony Burroughs, founder of the Intenders, is in OR…so we may meet up with him as well!

Grateful for my time in The Portal and excited for the adventures ahead!

So it’s Day 3 of our Abundance Oneness Trip and tonight we spend our 2nd night in a hotel w/swimming pool & hot tub…We have been following our intuition, experiencing synchroncities, and manifesting abundance in various forms. The list is too long to mention here, but we are keeping notes, which we intuit will show up in some sort of written media that can help others learn the art of instant manifestation, recognize synchronicities, and understand intuition.

The biggest lesson we are really working with is to, as Sonia Choquette puts it, is to “trust our vibes,” to follow that voice that says, “Go this way,” or talk to that person, etc. We may not know right away what the “bigger picture” reason for that guidance is, but when we trust it and follow it, aMAzing things result. Here’s just one example: Tonight, we were planning to end up in Butte, Montana for the night, but then both of us separately looked at the map and Bozeman, a bit before Butte, stood out. We changed our minds at the last minute and opted for Bozeman, later finding out that it is a very cool, liberal, artsy college town.

Also, Kimberly got an intuition to get off a few exits before the one for the hotel we’re staying at, which we did, not knowing why, and then eventually got back on the highway. Well, as a result, we very likely avoided an accident, as Kimberly also got an intuitive feeling about a certain truck on the highway at the time…Also, we were going to stop at a local health food co-op in town, but because we got off at a different exit, we got to there after it closed. We were about to leave, when I intuited maybe there was a lesson for us in a flier on the front door. There was, and it has relevance to work that we are both doing. Had we gotten there in time to shop, we would have missed the message on the flier.

The list goes on. The overall message that we’re working with and playing with on this trip is: listening, following, trusting. There is always a higher picture at work; we just might not always see it. Then again, the more we practice, the better we get! Much more to come on that….

For now, we’re off to unwind after another day’s driving in the pool and hot tub….And tomorrow head to Wings of Eagles Education Center in Usk, Washington, where we will probably do a sweat lodge and connect with some wonderful beings at this spiritual education center. Synchronistically, Kimberly’s good friend Liz who lives in Augusta (where Kimberly currently resides) happens to be in WA at her second home during the time we’re passing through. After that, on to Portland!!

[this post is from the 1st official day of our trip across the country, Sun, 5/9/01]

First, a warm Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there…You do a great great service to our planet, raising our future generations…Thank you for all that you do!

I find it interesting that Mother’s Day is celebrated so close to Earth Day—they are just a little over two weeks apart—and also that we begin our journey across our great country on this special day. And so I honor and dedicate this trip to the Great Mother, the true Mother of us all—Gaia, the Earth Mother Goddess. Whatever you call her, the Earth provides for us in ideal motherly fashion, providing nourishing food and water, nurturing us with shelter and sunshine, and offering peace, rest, and soothing of our soul. The Earth sustains us; She is the giver of Life. We literally could not survive without her.

So on this Mother’s Day, I pay homage and send healing energy to Her and ask that prayers of protection and balance go to where they are most needed on our planet. The Earth knows what she is doing; She knows how to recycle energies and replenish Herself. We, on the other hand, have a lot to learn about balance, cooperation, and sustainability. We have a lot to learn about respecting the source of our sustenance, about caring for it so it can care for us. We can see the evidence of our imbalanced ways of living throughout the world.

Today and throughout this trip, I send healing prayers to all sentient beings that we may all learn to live in harmony with our natural environment, to love Her and nurture Her, so she may continue loving and nurturing us—for as long as we all decide we want to keep playing here…. Om Mani Padme Hum! (Buddhist mantra for loving compassion)

[This is my post for Sat, 5/8/10...Just posting now! Start of trip gratitudes & intentions!]

Gratitudes: As I boarded the Greyhound bus from Newark to Buffalo this morning, I was overwhelmed with gratitude—for the amazingly abundant life I’ve been given, blessings bestowed upon me, and opportunities many people could only dream of. As the tears of happiness and joy streamed down my face, I made my gratitude list: my parents and sisters, my dear friends, spiritual community, my body and its incredible innate capacity to heal, Nature/Gaia/the Earth and how She heals, my fearless attitude and optimism in life, my gifts of writing, speaking, and inspiring others, and of course the chance to go on this life-changing trip.

Intentions: From this place of awe and wonder, I created some intentions for this month of traveling. Starting from gratitude always makes desires manifest easier and quicker! I intended to: stay open to Divine Guidance, Higher Wisdom, One Mind and let it guide us to where and with whom we need to be for our highest evolution, trust and follow these synchronicities, feel and act abundantly and “one” with All That Is, care for and love the Earth and its creatures wherever we go, raise our own vibrations and those around us, get used to experiencing life at higher energy levels, stay in the flow, and have everything be easy, effortless, and FUN!

Tonight I met up with Kimberly, my fellow “soul train” traveler on this Abundance Oneness Trip, and we stay at her parents’ place tonight. Tomorrow we party it up with her family, load up on food, and hit the road to my old love, Madison, WI. Looking forward to re-connecting with “tribe” out there, some dear “soul family…” Monday morning breakfast will be “yummy” on many levels, not just physical! Stay tuned!