I Have Landed. I Have Finally Crossed The Threshold and The Quest Begins...

"If we are spiritual beings on a human path, rather than human beings on a spiritual path, then life is not only a journey but a pilgrimage or quest as well. Both pilgrim and questing knight leave behind their usual lives and go in search of something that they are missing, not necessarily knowing what that something is."

~ Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen ~
Crossing To Avalon:
A Woman's Midlife Quest
For The Sacred Feminine

Dear Friends,

I have finally landed after a long voyage. A voyage that has been a bit of a shock like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, and fathoms deep. A pilgrimage that has taken me through the portal from one life into another. My life is now dedicated to the work of the spirit, in mundane and simple ways, as well as serving all that is Holy through my writing, teaching, healing, and counseling those who would seek it.

Moving into the new house has been a journey in and of itself, one that I could not have begun to have imagined, the kind that you would likely not choose if you knew ahead of time what you would encounter and need to survive through the letting go of the life past, embracing the present moment, as well as turning toward and preparing for the life that is ahead. Yes, there have been problems along the way, and yet this is a wonderful little home, and a perfect place to do my work. The brilliant yellow butterfly, a symbol of transformation, is my guide through the portal, I follow willingly, and am almost blinded by the light ahead. I am on the right path, and what a comfort it is to finally know that.



Many have encountered the things that I have, but as this is my first home to have ever purchased on my own, I was shocked to find that the roof needed to be replaced, all the boards and guttering around the roof's edge were rotting and even into the attic, all needing to be fixed lest the damage get worse and move into the house. It is frighteningly more expensive than I had known it might be, but it is getting done, a little at a time.

There are delightful times too. The old chain link fence was torn down and a beautiful six foot privacy fence put in it's place. These are incredible craftsman and there has been a blessing in the work that they are doing for me, and what I am receiving in return. They needed the work and I needed the help, a time of synchronicity, wonder, and grace. This home has become and is becoming a sanctuary. Garden areas are being dug, an outside garden shed will be turned into a meditative place, and the dogs have a big fenced yard to play in.

My magical boat is being restored and painted (Pictures of before and after will be taken and appear here soon.) as are the shutters and beautiful ornate iron posts on the front porch, and I have had an arched doorway cut between my bedroom and the room next to it. In this way I can spend time in my sacred space for prayer and meditation, work of the spirit and of my ministry before I go to sleep, carrying the close connection to spirit into my dreams where the teacher and healer in me might be restored and given answers and gifts of knowledge that I need to help others. I have even been doing healing work on my animals and it is amazing how they have responded. I feel so blessed.

I have been told by my spiritual teachers and advisors that I have special gifts that were meant to be used, from a gentle contemplative place, based in peace, love, light, hope and joy. The subtle energy work, the healing of the spirit and the heart, come to me as a gift, and I am more than a little surprised and deeply grateful. As teachers, we teach what we need to learn. I do tonglen meditation as I gently hold the hands of the person before me. In tonglen meditation you breathe in the pain and suffering of the world, or the person before you, and breathe out peace, healing, and love. I am working with people who simply rest their open palms on mine, lightly, and I guide them into a gentle, soft meditation as I breathe with them in and out, out and in, while an energy exchange and healing is taking place. I needed to cross the threshold from my past life and enter the present one and the one to come, and even the difficulties and sometimes shocking problems that have arisen with the house have been a blessing and a shamanic journey of sorts, the trial by fire, the preparation for the work ahead.

I wait, with an anticipatory joy, for the coming together, once again, of she whom I love with all of my heart, my soul mate, the deepest connection I have known in my life. The separation has been hard, but necessary. We both had much work to do in our own lives to come to the place where we might be ready to reunite and share something more beautiful than I could have ever imagined possible. I don't know how it will come to pass, but I know that it is coming. I am waiting for you my love. I will wait as long as it takes.

And once the ground is tilled and made fertile with the organic material that I use, I will plant bulbs by the hundreds, poppies and other seeds that need to be planted in the late fall or here, where the cold comes late, during the winter, and there will be wildflowers everywhere and hollyhocksand all varieties of sunflowers, and I will be on my knees in the soil, my bare hands deep in the earth, no gloves, so that I might feel how friable the soil is, and with the warmth of spring not only comes the enchantment of flowers blooming, but the time when I can release thousands of lady bugs, and worms to till and fertilize the soil, and, a favorite task, ordering a great many praying mantis cocoons to hang here and there. What magic it is to see the tiny baby mantises emerge.

There will be the butterfly garden and bird feeders everywhere and behind my fence, down to the creek, a wildlife habitat that I will let grow free and abundant, as it already is, and take heart knowing that I amongst wild things and growing things, at one with Nature, also a great teacher. I bow to Mother Earth.

And so now, still surrounded by a sea of boxes, the house begins to become a home and is gradually being put in order. I am getting to know the house and it is beginning to know me. I am sitting in the cozy room with sleeping animals all around me, pugs snoring, and sweet Big Dog Moe curled on his bed behind me. Sampson, my velcro pug, is wrapped around my neck, snuggled into me and snoring, and the soft snores of the other pugs fill the air around me. A fire crackles in the fireplace, and there are books, notebooks, seed catalogs and paint samples all around me, and tonight I will work on the book that I knew would become fruitful and multiply once I reached my destination.

So yes, I am here, I have landed, and I can finally return to regular, more frequent blogging which is so important to me and yet has been lost for some time with my mother's end stage cancer, her death, the holidays, and then preparing to move, body and soul, into the house and life I was meant to lead. I am creating a house of color, radiance, grace, and joy. A place for my work, full of vibrance and life, as well as peace, prayer, meditation and a life wherein I open my heart, hands, and soul to the world around me, and share, through my writings and silent prayers, the pilgrimage that I am on, the journey, and all that I learn, so that perhaps I can offer something of value to the world that I care about so deeply.



Please wish me Godspeed on my journey, as I do you in yours. You are all always in my thoughts and prayers.

Warm regards and deepest blessings to all,