Just Passing Through...a rambling. Just because I have not posted recently does not mean that I have not been doing anything. I have! And even though I am not boiling over with words that must be typed.... I have been simmering with ideas and perusing the many...someone else's BLOGS! I am truly amazed at the creativity and stories that are shared on the Internet. Communication via the WWW has it's pitfalls, I suppose. But the Truth as I see it is that this particular form of technology is a subtly spirited way of connecting people, that was unimaginable just a few years ago. Although it does not actually replace face to face encounters...it is an amazing tool allowing humans to share themselves with other humans that in any other way would not ever have the opportunity to come into contact with each other. What a gift. Interesting also...and obtusely related :-) was my recent trip to St. Louis via Greyhound. The journey was to take 4-1/2 hours, which included one road-side stop. I stood in line at the station...wondering why I had been SO stressed all week in regard to this trip. When I arrived to the station in Indianapolis it was practically empty...I purchased my ticket from the friendliest ticket agent ever and there I was third in line...as the long line of interestingly eclectic people lined up behind me. To make a long...(and I do mean LONG...) story short......... I arrived in St. Louis exactly 24 hours later. Why? Ice, accidents, 8 hour traffic jam on the highway, stuck in McDonald's parking lot for another 2-1/2 hours, returning to the original departure point in Indy 12 hours after leaving, then... boarding a bus that would ensure the best way to get to our destination...which entailed going through Louisville, KY and Nashville, TN. So...what does this have to with communication and non-traditional ways of connecting? Well....... The 25+ people on the first bus...which doubled as we boarded the second bus to accommodate another 1/2bus load of dismayed Holiday travelers, became family. I watched people that would have NEVER been in the same spot at the same time, take care of each other, make each other laugh and share their concerns. I saw several instances of a certain loud, arrogant young man (as I judged him so... standing in line. but at the same time wondered how the gentlest blue eyes seemed so in congruent with his arrogant manic-ness)...make sure the children were taken care of with or without parental accompaniment and saw a very young girl ask him if he would get her a can of soda at one of the stops since she ran out of money...as if he was the favorite Uncle that could not refuse her. I observed people who did not speak the same language communicate in the highest form...in the language of respect and care and concern. Strangers shared cell-phones in order to report back to worried and waiting family and friends at the other end. And people shared their last little treasures of Oreos and Tylenol. :-) And I observed myself...who had quite a time shaking the stress even after I realized the higher purpose for this whole "fiasco". In the dark, as the day had come and gone while immobile on a large patch of black ice..I sat secretly wiping my tears with my shawl...tears that were a strange mixture of feeling lost in the arctic wilderness and being found in a winter wonderland. As I found comfort and solace in brief but deeply heartfelt conversations with a couple of travelers that I knew I would never see again. We were all just passing through. And as it is, when we tap on our keyboards and share our lives in a momentary flash on the computer screen and so it is also....every day we walk this earth. Sometimes passing through takes more time...weeks, months, years...a lifetime. Sometimes it is not more than a few minutes. And what I learned is that the amount of time does not matter at all. But how we engage in that time-less frame does. And so each moment is of value, one not being more important than another, but perhaps more memorable. Both ideas I am writing about here...the INTERNET MIRACLE and the GREYHOUND INCIDENT has prompted me also to see that we cannot judge a book by it's cover...but on the other hand...we often get signs and signals, that go beyond any psychical/rational explanation, when we allow to move with the heart. Vibrational Coherency can be a sneaky phenomenon. It brings us together and sets us apart. One thing I know for sure is that we get what we need in a divinely timed plan that we cannot even begin to measure or decipher with our human brains.We cannot MAKE things happen. We cannot "manifest" anything worthy and beautiful from only our intellect...but we must walk with our hearts leading the way and have our vision continually upgraded, our perception regularly tweaked, just as anyone of us who understands the importance of maintaining a smoothly working computer must do. And along with that...in our oh, so humanness...we must want what we get to have what we want...to be at peace and to be in the NOW, which is all we really have anyway. So anyway...back to the journey... I was not alone in my observations. We all saw it happen. Some of us spoke of it. A hug here. A wish of lifelong happiness there. And many knowing glances...silently confirming that indeed, something profound had kept us together for 24 hours. A part of me wishes that some member of my Greyhound family would see this post and write....."Hey, remember me? I was there!" Unlikely? Who knows. Things move quickly in this moment that we are alive...people come and go, Circumstantial Evidence that builds our inner lives evolves with our own evolving of Spirit and level of involution. :-0 Anything can happen. Anything DOES happen. Here's a story about being in the NOW...that always brings me to my knees, when I recall it...at the times I really THINK I am IN THE NOW. :-) When my daughter was about 8 or so...we along with a friend of mine and her son of the same age, to the Chicago Jazz fest at Grant Park. It was crowded as usual. the field was carpeted with picnickers ready to socialize, eat enormous amounts of food while some of the best musicians played from the band shell. As we settled down with all our paraphernalia feeling lucky to even find enough space, we noticed a man sitting a few yards away from us. he was obviously homeless. And he sat....alone, not drinking or eating, just sitting and listening to the first notes coming from the world renowned Chicago Band shell.. We felt compelled to send out two little kids over with a couple paper plates filled with some of everything we had...not knowing his tastes :-)...hoping to do a good deed and also teach the kids to share. We had SO much. They took on the task willingly and ready to approach this stranger. We watched as they approached him and then having what seemed to be a friendly but short exchange. They then began walking back to us with the paper plates, still piled with food. what went wrong, hope we did not insult him...why did he not take it... we both spoke simultaneously. "What happened" ? The little boy replied with a curious look on his face..."He said Thank you very much, but I 'm not hungry now". D'uh. ~~~~~~~~~ Hey...it's that time of year again! Ready for my yearly ritual...(speaking of NOW)...that I do over and over and over again. :-) here's a sample: