It is a juicy cold winter day in Wettenbostel. The temperature is -6 degrees… luckily, that’s celsius not farenheit. But still, it is cold enough. Bundled in wool, I love it outside, for a little bit. But mostly, I am grateful to be warm inside!
I cooked the most delicious food for myself today. How is it that sometimes you can cook the simplest of things… broccoli stir fry and rice… and it tastes SOOO GOOD! I have a little break in painting the ceiling of one of the seminar rooms, my latest task here at the Seminar Haus. I ran out of paint. Alas. So in the meantime simply tending to a little cleaning in the kitchen.
As I bask in the warmth of the kitchen I hear the voice of my friend, Reiki Master and counsel, Elizabeth Ohmer Pellegrin, saying “Use your alone time wisely” . Hmmm… I find myself thinking. What exactly is using my alone time wisely? I think…in part…I am beginning to find that answer.
As I continue to listen to the story of Iyanla Vanzant on my new audiobook, Peace from Broken Pieces, her story unfolds and I listen intently. The story has moved past the tragedy of her childhood and has blossomed into her world as a successful spiritual teacher. What has struck me today as I listen is her spiritual practice of turning to God when she needs an answer for herself and her life. Guidance along her journey. Her practice is to immerse herself in prayer for 5 or 6 days until she feels she has an answer for herself and her life. That is it, I thought today. That is wise use of my time… going within, using the tools of my spiritual practices, to nourish myself and to seek and explore what it is I need to know for myself and my life at this point in time. I check in with the Tarot cards, an old friend and confident. They agree as they reveal to me the Hermit card… a time for being alone and connecting deep within.
When I was a child I used to have this sort of unusual experience. The word I used to describe it was feeling like I was in a straw, like a vortex of energy was slipping and sliding right through me…and I was part of it. As I grew older my recollection of this feeling came and went. And then one day… it revisited. I was assisting at a course taught by Landmark Education known as the Wisdom course. One of my favorite courses in the Landmark curriculum, it was a series of powerful weekends that span over the course of a year. As someone who was assisting… my role, my function was to be of service to the course and the participants. The role of assisting during a course always keeps you hopping. Being present, paying attention, and being available to do what is needed to make the course happen. Whatever it takes.
It was during the course that I felt this feeling again. This straw-like notion swirling through my body. Now a little older than when I was a child, I at least had some modicum of wisdom to be able to pay attention to what it was that I was feeling. That feeling, that sensation I could discern was oneness, our “we-ness”, that space in the cosmic soup where there is no you or no me… but we. And it is my understanding that I was able to experience that feeling once again during the course in the context of authentically being of service. Giving of my heart and giving up my me to be in service to others. In that space, the I or me just kind of slipped away and what was there? We!
That moment was a spiritual breakthrough for me. It reminded me that our spiritual essence has been connected to me my whole life. I have had that feeling, that straw-like sensation on a few more occasions since then. Sometimes I experience it during a Reiki treatment. … and ultimately it seems that is what I am returning to… like a slippery slide.
So here I am…being a Hermit in Wettenbostel. In the still darkness of winter. A little breath of sun today as the temperatures get a bit more frosty. Taking time out for a few earthly pleasures like yummy food and, okay, watching a movie or two on my computer. But intently basking for a few days in my spiritual practices… Reiki, chanting, A Course in Miracles and yoga… exploring that deep place within. Ah, feels so good. Feels like some love. Some time just to…love me… tender.
Photo by me from the snowy fields of Wettenbostel
Gypsy Woman 
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