Kimestry

"Why didn't they accept the payment?", the teller at the bank asked innocently. "It's a long story", I offered. This was the upset of the day that got me where I needed to be. I was getting "sick and tired" of being "sick and tired." So many things seemed to be going wrong in my life--I'd been sick for almost two weeks, finances didn't look that great, and my heart felt like it needed some major mending. It was a gloomy day so my first thought was to go home, make some tea, put on my pajamas and sleep. It was only 3 p.m. Once I left the bank I decided that if there was ever a time to call upon spiritual tools, this was it. So instead of going home, I decided to go to the Marriott and check out a healer named Braco (pronounced Brautzo) that I had heard was doing a "gazing" every hour on the hour. A friend had informed me that his voice would also be heard during the final gazing; a rare treat since he hasn't spoke...

"I'm sorry we didn't do anything exciting." My friend's apology came after a leisurely day filled with time at her home with her husband and kids and a brief shopping excursion. I was visiting her for three days to keep her company as she had just had surgery. I told her that I was okay with relaxing and that she didn't need to entertain me with something "exciting". Her apology made me think about how it seems that at times we all become addicted to entertainment, excitement, or DRAMA. If something isn't happening that's worthy of a Facebook post or even a "tall tale" to entertain friends with, we think life is boring. Or maybe that's just me or someone you know. The truth that I know is that being given the opportunity to engage in life itself is amazing, exciting, and worthy of a Facebook post! To have the opportunity to live, breathe, and have our experiences in this body, in this now is more than worthy of celebrati...

If you live outside of Southern California, you don't EVEN want to know what the weather is like today. You'd hate me. Eighty degrees in March! I took a walk by the beach today. I always learn something on my walks, but today I wasn't really looking for a lesson-I just wanted to take in some sunshine and ocean energy. As I walked on The Strand in Manhattan Beach, I took in the ocean, the birds, the surfers, and all the children being pushed in strollers. And then there were the dogs. I noticed a woman walking a black and white dog. I noticed that the woman was going at a pretty good clip, walking in the opposite direction. All of the sudden, mid-stride, the dog lay down. Belly to cement, tongue hanging out, done. It was as if the dog suddenly said, "forget this mess. I'm taking a breather." The woman walking the dog quickly saw the futility of pulling the leash as it was clear that the dog wasn't going anywhere. This was an instance where I truly did LM...

Day Two, Afternoon The hardest part, for me, about being on a silent meditation retreat were meal times. Although seated across the table from someone I've always thought was sweet and really cute, I could not talk to him. Next to me was a friend that I adore and I had to avoid eye contact so that I would not be tempted to engage in conversation with her or giggle. I thought to myself, "Why do I need to talk now? What would I say, anyway?" I imagined that to my friend I'd say, "I'm so honored to be on this journey with you." To the man across the table I'd say, "I've always thought you were such a sweetheart and we've never really had the chance to talk. How cool is it to be able to do that now." Instead, I smiled at both and looked away quickly. I chuckled at myself for thinking that I need words in order to communicate when the energy I send out and receive is much more powerful. I chuckled because no one knew what I was thinking...

Day Two, Morning When I woke up, my first words were, "Oh sh$@!" It was 7:14 am. I'd woken up at 6:15 am and had hit the proverbial snooze button with the intention of going to yoga class at 7:30 am. Up to that point, I'd been really good about being in the silence. I could only laugh at myself for breaking my serene silence with an expletive. Good thing my roommate wasn't there to witness it. At yoga class I felt less flexible than I remembered myself being. I enjoyed focusing on my breath and I took it easy on myself, although it was a challenging class for me. My roommate had come to get me right before yoga, but I lost track of her after the class. I went to breakfast on my own. After a day of meditation, I realized that I was having premonitions. What was interesting was that they would come to me as images during meditation. What was also interesting is that they were regarding something unexpected---food. That's right, every day in meditation I would se...