shout out to shouting out your dreams and goals

My daughter Grace (along with a soccer teammate in both club and high school) was featured today on the front page of the sports section of our local paper. The article addressed Grace heading off to college a semester early and forgoing her senior year of high school soccer. This quote taken from the article explains why Grace made this decision:

"I have huge goals as a collegiate player and two of them are to be on the national team and to become an All-American as a freshman," Cutler said. "These are goals that I will have to work very hard for, and starting training early will give me a better chance to achieve them.”

When I read this quote, I observed fear arise in me. Grace has lofty goals for her soccer career that we talk about often among the “safety” of our own family, but she basically proclaimed to the world what her aspirations are. My ego took over and I worried about the criticism and pessimism of others. I observed my own judgment that if now she doesn’t accomplish these goals, then in the public’s eye she will be considered a failure. Wow.

I have watched my kids set grand goals, and pursue them. I have supported my children in every way possible in pursuit of their dreams and have always reinforced that they have no limits or boundaries to their dreams and creations. Most meaningfully, I have had the profound pleasure of witnessing my children on their journeys fulfilling their dreams.

I never played team sports growing up so I have never had the experience of setting goals for a game, a season, or even a career. It is a common experience for teams and individual athletes to set goals, and then for those goals to not be met. Yet, setting goals is a significant motivation and it provides direction and focus for the path to be taken. It is a bold statement to the Universe that this is where I desire to go and is an essential tool of creation. 

I learn so much from my children and I am grateful to them for their inspiration. Now that my role as stay-at-home mom is coming to an end and the next phase of life is quickly approaching, I intend to follow my children’s lead and dream big with grand and bold specifics!  What do I want to pursue and accomplish? Hmmm. 

happy 21st birthday son

Happy Birthday dear Son

You are finally 21!

21 years ago this day

1993, the 13th of May

You blessed me as your mother

Thanks for not choosing another

From the moment we heard “It’s a boy!”

Your presence has brought sheer joy

From newborn to man has been swift

Every moment with you, a gift

You’re intelligent, sensitive, a renaissance man

Funny, open hearted, my Mason-man

You’re an earth roamer

To all, a soul brother

To me, a kindred soul

Every color of the rainbow

You are YOU

Tried-and-true

Complex and simple

A divine temple

You are an angel on earth!

You have been since birth

So Happy Birthday dear Son

May you be blessed with many more to come

I love, love, love you

For always and forever

Mom

a perfect may 10th celebration

This time in May is full of celebration for our family:

Mother’s Day is today (and it is dumping snow!). 

Mason’s 21st birthday is on Tuesday.

And, yesterday (May 10th) was the 18th anniversary of the momentous spiritual shift in our lives, when Christ Consciousness blessed me with the direct, out-of-body meeting with Him in the light realm. 

May 10th is meaningful to only Trey and me, as Connor and Mason were young, and Gracie was not yet even conceived. Yet, this day changed our kid’s lives too because Trey and I were so profoundly transformed.

Trey and I spent a peaceful day in nature fly fishing for our first time, in the Big Thompson River in Estes Park. I hooked and released five trout, and Trey three. Our guide gave thanks to each trout as he released them back into the tumbling river. Elk were all around and I even saw two bighorn sheep on the canyon cliffs as we drove home. I cannot imagine a more perfect way to celebrate May 10th than our day communing with nature and wildlife in the majestic mountains of Colorado. Halleluja!

I hear, but do I listen?

I hear, but do I listen? 

I hear people talk to me every day, but do I listen with my full attention?

I hear my body talk to me through physical sensations and injuries/illnesses and changes and fatigue, but do I really listen to the astute information it is offering me?

I hear the soft whisperings of my intuition and of Spirit, but do I always slow down and go within and truly listen and receive?

My answer to these inquiries is sometimes, but not nearly enough.

I’ve manifested a significant, and hopefully temporary, loss of hearing in my left ear from a severe ear infection over a month ago. I am incredibly grateful for my sense of hearing. Yet, this experience has been a broader blessing in that it has been the incentive for me to observe and explore how I listen, when I listen and what I listen to, all of which transcends far beyond the physical act of hearing sound.

I hear with my ears. I can only listen with presence.

a hurting heart

“My heart hurts Mama!”

Mine too son

Though not sure why

Could it be the

addiction 

dysfunction

in our experience?

Yet, I know

there is no one right path

and, all soul’s paths are PERFECT

Could it be the

anger infection

body limitation

in our experience?

Yet, I know

these manifestions

encourage our soul’s healing

Could it be the

assault and abuse

to body and soul

in our experience?

Yet, I witness the

the strength and empowerment

as a consequence

Could it be the

the stars alignment

resistance to letting go of past wounds

my dad is here, but gone

saturation of my energetic sponge

the end to one life’s purpose

and, fear of the unknown for the next?

Yet, I have experienced time and again

the vast support and love of Spirit

in all experiences in my life

Could it be the

many tragedies 

outside of our experience?

The shootings here and there

the flood or fire or earthquake

the political conflict and unrest?

Yet, I trust in God’s love 

and healing in all things

and for all souls

I choose

to consciously protect my energy field

to live open heartedly

to release the past 

to allow my loved ones their experiences without judgment

to express my truth 

to live my essence

to be creative

to be joyous

to be grateful in all things

to love myself

Son, I choose to heal my hurting heart

gotta share the God winks!

Two God winks yesterday:

~ Mason called from LA questioning whether the house he was about to rent was the right one. I volunteered to pull an Osho Zen Tarot card on his behalf. He asked that I pull three. The final card had a butterfly on its picture and when I read to him the significance of the butterfly...a monarch butterfly flew right in front of him.

As Mason would say, “Tehehehehe!”

~ I’ve been physically and emotionally “under the weather” and followed my intuition to pull one of Doreen Virtue’s Healing with the Angels Oracle Cards. I pulled Archangel Michael, letting me know that he is with me right now. Way cool! So I did some more research online and found Doreen Virtue’s article “8 Ways to Recognize Archangel Michael.” Got through the first few signs of his presence and then left for Grace’s soccer game with the information about his auric color next to read. Here’s the picture of his color:

When we returned from the soccer game, my computer was acting weird so Grace simply turned it off and restarted it so that she could use it for homework. When the computer restarted, Grace mentioned that she wasn’t sure that my computer was okay because the picture on my screen (that had been there for almost two years) was gone. Thankfully, the computer worked fine.

The picture now on my screen is cosmic and very pretty, but not mine. When I continued my research on the signs from Michael, I realized that Michael’s colors are exactly the colors that mysteriously appeared on my computer screen (see screenshot below)! 

LOVE IT! THANKS MICHAEL!

the gifts of aging

Trey, Mason, Grace and I just enjoyed several days in picturesque Chattanooga, TN with Trey’s mom, aunt and uncle. We had a wonderful time reconnecting with family with whom I never feel like we have enough time. We were blessed to hear stories of their pasts, as well as to witness them thriving in their 70’s and 80’s. I was truly inspired by how they live each day with such a high energy level and passion! Absolutely incredible and beautiful to witness!

Spending time with some of our senior family members prompted me to focus on the positives of aging. At the age of 53 and definitely feeling the decline of my body and energy level, I realized that it is easy to focus on the negative changes that aging brings to my day to day experience and that I would be well served to start focusing on the positive changes. Thank God that there are some exquisite transformations!

Living less from the head and more from the heart. I find myself advising my children to honor their intelligence as a tool to be consciously used and not to allow their brains to rule them and dictate their reality. Live from the heart with your head supplementing and supporting your creations.

Less stress and the allowance or the freedom to do what you want to do, and live how you want to live, and be who you want to be. I am not sure why we typically wait until we are older to shift our focus, but it feels very freeing to release the need to please others and to honor yourself and your own desires.

Greater appreciation and presence with family, friends, and others. I’m not sure if it is the creeping awareness of a limited time on earth, or the loss of loved ones, or both, but I savor my time with loved ones now in a way I never did when I was younger.

The beauty of experiencing my children as young adults and our relationships deepening and becoming more balanced and harmonized as equals/peers. So yummy to watch the lives of these beings whom you love so richly blossom into their fullness. It is like they were your caterpillar and now they are a fellow butterfly.

The prospect of grandchildren. Not rushing it or pressuring any of my three kids, just enjoying the potential!

Being middle-aged is awesome! For real!

unleashed movement and emotion

Trey and I spend many a Sunday morning participating in a freestyle movement, or conscious dance, gathering in our community. These mornings are typically magical for one or both of us. 

We have the opportunity to “move from the inside out” in a safe, nonjudgmental environment and without any attachment to looking good or dancing well. We have the opportunity to get out of our head for an hour and a half and instead connect with our body, and its beauty and wisdom and authentic expression. This freedom, this letting go, allows emotions to surface and express and release. 

For a movement person, like me, this is a powerful and often healing experience. I acknowledge, though, that for someone not connected or drawn to movement, it would be the last thing you would ever want to do! Yet, for Trey and me and the rest of our Sunday morning community/tribe, it is often one of the best things we do for ourselves all week.

This last weekend was my birthday and Mason joined us for Sunday dance for the first time. His presence was the icing on my birthday cake, with the plumpest cherry on top! During the last song on the playlist, I got out of my dance zone and looked around the room. All dancers were on the ground stretching and cooling down, except for my husband and my son, the only males in the room. So I sat against the wall, and witnessed...experienced...received the pure beauty of their:

freedom

openness

expression

sensitivity

love

connectedness

I cried with such overwhelming joy and gratitude and awe that it hurt. It still does.

my son the earth roamer

I journal. I journal for a variety of reasons...to process, to vent, to capture, to create, and to remember. The “to remember” reason is futile, really, as I have stacks of journals over my lifetime and it would almost take a lifetime to find a particular entry! So long ago, I settled upon the idea that all memories are accessible in my psyche somewhere and will reveal themselves when appropriate, and this hopeful possibility has just manifested! I am so tickled!

Last week, Mason returned home to Colorado after four months of international travel. Yes, he has quite an envious life...first he spent several weeks in New Zealand and Australia with Taylor Swift Red Tour, then a couple of weeks in Barbados with a close friend, then a few weeks in Iceland with another dear friend, and ended up with several weeks in Europe with TS tour again. Wow!

All through these months, I was able to connect with Mason through texts, and, even more satisfying, through Facetime.  He was not only on a physical journey, but a spiritual one as well. He marveled at the deep connections he made with so many different people in each of these countries. His heart was open and he experienced instantaneous bonds with people who were strangers just moments before. These experiences and new relationships were deep and profound to him and he was overflowing with love and gratitude.

On our drive home from the airport, he was sharing more about the love he felt for his old friends, for his new friends, as well as for himself. At that moment, we drove past a building with the business name of “Earth Roamer.” We both giggled at the apropos “not coincidence” of that label for him, as he had literally been an earth roamer for the previous four months.

In the next moment, the “memory miracle” materialized from nowhere, or maybe everywhere! I remembered one of my Toastmaster meetings over 10 years ago that I had brought Mason to. He was around 10 years old at the time. Questions were asked to different members of the audience and Mason was asked, “What do you want to be or do when you grow up?”  He walked up to the podium and emotionally answered, “I want to fly on a plane around the world and share love.”

He surprised me with his response, and even himself it seemed, and yet everyone in the room felt his passion and his genuineness. This was a moment of innocence and purity that revealed the heart and deepest desires of this kid. 

At the age of 20, my son the Earth Roamer has embarked on his journey of flying on a plane around the world and sharing love. 

I love dreams

I have spent this morning recording my dreams from last night, and then feeling my dreams to help me process them. My dreams literally shed insight and light into the deepest corners and crevices of my being that I may be needing clarity on, afraid of, too distracted to see, or not even conscious of. 

My dreams teach/reveal... 

My dreams solve/resolve/answer...

My dreams confirm...

My dreams express...

On paper, dreams may appear nonsensical and/or insignificant, but that is because we tend to use our left brain (logical, analytical) to interpret a right brain (intuitive, feeling) experience. 

How crazy is it that we have a built in movie producer that casts us as the leading role in a multi-sensory experience that teaches us profound lessons about ourselves and our lives?! 

I LOVE DREAMS!

a prayer for sexual enlightenment

I pray for sexual spiritual enlightenment for us humans. My heart weeps for all victims of sexual abuse around the world, female and male, and especially for the dear souls in college and middle school whom I personally know. I pray for healing for the victims as well as for the aggressors. I have to believe that the aggressors are not conscious of the pain they have caused, or of the years of suffering they have thrust upon another. I pray for their awakening to their exploitation, and for their learning of the sacred essence of our sexuality. I pray for us mothers and fathers that we too honor the true nature of our sexuality and nurture this understanding and respect in our children through open conversation. Every family that breaks the rampant cycle of sexual abuse in our society contributes to raising the energy and consciousness of us all, the whole. God help us and bless us all on our journeys.

a prayer for my Dad's peaceful transition

Dad,

you have lived a beautiful, magnificent life

blessing your family and friends with your unconditional love

and you are loved as deeply by each of us

your body is now shutting down and dying

we give thanks to your body for giving you so much time with us here on earth

but you are not dying 

your essence, your life force, is eternal

you are simply transitioning back to your true home and your true form

your body's death is your spirit's birth back into Heaven

there is nothing to fear Dad

you will be greeted by loved ones who have transitioned before you

they are even assisting you now 

for the moment you are ready to return to the realm of pure peace and pure love 

there is nothing to fear Dad

your bond with Mom and your loved ones cannot be broken

you will always be connected to us

and you can still communicate with us, just in a different way

we will still feel your presence and you will feel ours

our love transcends form and dimensions and time 

our love is eternal

we, your loved ones, release you to return home when you are ready

know that we will take care of each other with love

you are free Dad 

we wish and pray for peace for you - peace to your body, mind and soul

we celebrate your life 

and although we will grieve not having you physically with us anymore

we rejoice in the knowing that you will be at peace in God's loving embrace

God bless you Dad

love, light, healing, peace, and joy to your soul

thank you for blessing our lives with yours

our love to you always and forever

sound to silence

This late morning, sitting out on my back deck wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, the warm sun beaming on my face, I grew frustrated by my inability to meditate, with my mind looping through Connor, Mason, Grace, Oreo.... 

A few years ago, a friend asked me to write an article on meditation for his website. I was and am no expert on meditation, but going through the process of writing the article helped me to step into the observing place with my own meditation practices. I learned that when I am struggling to quiet my mind enough to enter a meditative state, as I was this morning, if I focus my attention on the reality going on outside of my mind, like paying attention to all the sounds that I can hear both near and far, then I have discovered the open door to escape my mental prison.

So I listened, and quickly I shifted from my obsessive thinking and feelings of frustration, sadness, worry, judgement...to this place of wonder, curiosity, and gratitude. The orchestra of life that I observed through listening was grand and magnificent. Just a few moments earlier, I wasn’t even aware of the birds singing, the rustling leaves, the dog barking in the distance, the airplane overhead, or the gentle breeze vibrating in my ear. Natural sound, or manmade, it didn’t matter, as the sounds were lively and beautiful and helped me to find presence again. Thank you sound for silencing my mind.

--------

On another note...

Happy Sweet 16 to my dear Gracie!

My love poem to Oreo

How do I say goodbye to my precious friend? This house and my life will feel so lonely without you.

I love how soft your fur is. Petting you comforts me.

I love the way you look into my eyes and hold your gaze. We connect through our eyes, that’s how you picked me in the first place. Gracie always says you are like a human, showing emotion through your eyes.

I love the way you stay in bed until I get up, and then stay up with me until I go to bed.

I love giving you doggie massages, and the way you trust me and relax, letting me massage the muscles and joints of your body.

I love the way you are always within viewing distance of me...you are my companion when the house is empty and quiet.

I love hiking with you. You make me feel safe. I get to share nature with another living creature who appreciates it as much as I do.

Until you came along, we rarely walked the neighborhood or chatted with our neighbors. You get us outside most every day. You get us connecting with others more regularly. And now, proudly, we are known as Oreo’s parents.

You have your quirks, no doubt, but the beauty and love that you bring to us is what prevails and shines through.

Although we didn’t have the opportunity to know you as a puppy, we are so blessed to know you as an adult and senior citizen. I love how often people comment on how cute my puppy is and are shocked to hear that you are 13 years old. So grateful for you to have had that puppy energy until the end.

We got to name you Oreo and a smile enters my face and heart every time someone says, “What a perfect name for him!”

Now I have to say goodbye. My heart is breaking. Our family will never forget the joy and the laughter and the comfort and the love that you have shared with us. Love you Oreo...forever.

end of the world

It can feel like a MAD world

20 kids murdered at school a week ago

...a really BAD world

A friend hung himself last night

Today the proclaimed “End of the World”

For many, it is the end of the world as they knew it

For their children are gone

And yet, 

My heart is still able to feel the GLAD in this world

As my prayers and healing thoughts join the

Innumerable heartfelt and gut wrenching prayers of a nation

...and the GLAD in this day

50 years ago a dear soul blessed this world with her birth

Happy Birthday Lauren

MAD

BAD

GLAD

Life is ALL of it

Camino Day 7 continued - Logroño

The massive door into the Cathedral’s albergue quarters shut behind us and we were welcomed by a man who was smiling and tangibly gentle in spirit...deep breath and an ahh...sanctuary. He expressed gratitude that we were there. We were grateful to be offered a mat to sleep on the floor. He advised us of the evening’s schedule: community dinner at 8pm, followed by a short prayer service, and that the cost of our stay with dinner was by donation. We would have paid whatever was asked for a roof over our heads!

After dropping off our backpacks in a room bare of furniture but stacked with backpacks against the walls, we headed back out into the “festivities” to find a store to buy fruit and other snacks. Thankfully, we safely maneuvered our way through the several blocks of drunks to a street where the families and not inebriated festival goers were celebrating. This lovely street filled with ice cream and food carts, street entertainers, balloons and bubble blowers was just a block or two from the streets of drunken revelry. It was quite the sight to see children wide-eyed and mouths gaped upon catching a peek at the intoxicated celebrations and then seeing their parents shoo them away as quick as possible! 

Upon our return to the Cathedral we encountered an equally entertaining sight: little old Spanish ladies headed for evening church service, all dollied up in their church attire and heels, held handkerchiefs to their noses and shook their heads in disapproval as they navigated their way through the drunks, broken glass and the urine! Then there was more shaking of their heads as they passed a young man in costume chatting it up with a girl outside the entrance to the Cathedral - he was shirtless but for the angels wings strapped to his back and he wore a white flapped skirt with a giant fake penis hanging out! Seriously!

We expected our community dinner to be sparse, as the number of pilgrims far exceeded capacity. The parish volunteers packed us into the dining room and a hallway quickly converted into a makeshift overflow dining room. Then, unexpectedly, the priest arrived, led us in a beautiful and humorous blessing and he personally served us our meal! The food and wine was plentiful and the communion with the other pilgrims as well as the priest was heart warming, gratitude-filled, and joyous. We came from different countries, spoke different languages, lived dramatically different lives, and still, I had never experienced true communion with others like this. I imagine that this might be how the American pilgrims felt at the first Thanksgiving meal with the Native Americans. 

After dinner, the priest led us into the church and passed out a prayer sheet translated into probably 7 or so languages. It was very powerful to hear the same prayer read by the native speakers of each of these different languages. 

That night, Mason, our friend from Holland, a young man from London and I slept on mats in the Priest’s grand office that smelt of pipe tobacco. We could hear the partying continuing all through the night just on the other side of the wall of our improvised bedroom.

When we left our sanctuary early the next morning, not particularly well rested, but deeply touched by our fellowship at the parish albergue, we came across cleanup crews water blasting the streets and straggling party goers still drinking. One straggler presented us with an apt ending to our time in Logroño. This young man was in a business suit and while holding his penis in one hand to urinate, he raised his other hand to us and wished us “Buen Camino!”

the Camino de Santiago (chaos)

Day 7, another day of contrast. It was a very long day of walking, around 30 kilometers or 20 miles. My feet were not yet ready for this lengthy of a walk and I developed my first blisters, actually 6 of them! We arrived in the evening, around 630pm, to our destination, Logrono.  Logrono is a university city with a population of 130,000, similar in both these respects to Fort Collins, the city I live in. Logrono is also the capital of the wine-growing region of La Rioja. 

Throughout the day, we had heard from other pilgrims that today, Saturday, was the first day of a week-long wine harvesting festival being celebrated in Logrono. Many pilgrims opted to stay in a town 10 kilometers before Logrono because of worry over the availability of sleeping accommodations, but we were excited to experience the festival and decided to keep walking. I noticed my own feelings of scarcity and worry, and instead, I set my intent on creating abundance.

Walking into this city was surreal, especially after a full day of walking in nature. It was like Mardi Gras on steroids! College-aged kids packed the streets and were so intoxicated that it was scary. There were people throwing bottles on the ground, guys peeing in the open amongst the crowds in broad daylight, couples making out as if unaware anyone else was there, guys fighting, other guys with bloody faces and shirts I’m guessing from earlier fights.... It literally was total chaos! (We later learned that unemployment in Spain is at a staggering 25% and that the young adult population is the most affected, hence, the amplification of the celebration.)

We ran into some other pilgrims who said that all the albergues were “complete,” the Spaniard’s english word for “full,” and that the hotels were full as well. Mason and our friend were happy to sleep under the stars outside of town that night, but me, not so much! At some point over the last week, I had heard that parish albergues do not turn anyone away, so I encouraged them to give the church a try. 

Churches and cathedrals along the Camino are always located in the old part of the towns and cities, which in Logrono was where the heart of the partying was going on. So we made our way through the crowds, doing our best to avoid the pee rivers (I’m not exaggerating! The stench was horrible too!) and broken glass and aggressive drunks, and knocked on the locked door of the Catedral de Santa Maria de la Redonda.

The door opened and, in one brief moment, we stepped out of mayhem and into serenity. 

....to be continued!

Buen Camino!

the Camino de Santiago (a day of contrasts - the suffering)

At the end of our fifth day of walking, we experienced a dramatic contrast from the rest of our day, which to this point had been rich with laughter, rainbows and reuniting with a friend.

Mason, our friend, and I were crossing a bridge over a river. We three were slower, more contemplative walkers than most pilgrims, so there were no other people around. I heard a horse neighing and spotted him a short distance away in a field across the river. He was staring me down, and continuing to neigh. When I looked closer, it looked as if he only had 3 legs. Was that right? I wasn’t sure but it was clear he was trying to get our attention, so I called Mason and our friend over and we headed toward him.

It is difficult to even write about this encounter. This horse had lost his back left leg from the knee down. His wound was not fully healed yet and there were bees swarming it. His rib cage was protruding from a lack of food and he had a braided cloth bridle/rein around his neck with burrs all over it and burrs covered his mane as well. He was a horrific sight.

A wave of shock and sorrow washed over the three of us. We were at a loss at what to do. We were out in the middle of nowhere. We didn’t know if he was lost, or if had been abandoned by his owner. It appeared very unlikely that he was being cared for by anyone. For the first time in my life, I wished that I had a gun, so that I could put this dear creature out of his misery.

The horse shook his head in a very agitated manner. We thought that he wanted the burr-filled noose removed from his neck. But when I tried to get close enough to him to remove it, he was too spooked and skittish and moved away. Witnessing his attempt at walking made us immediately back away from him to a distance that he was comfortable. His hips dramatically curved without a leg to even them out and when he struggled to walk it looked as if his spine would twist and snap in two from the weight of his hip muscles and pelvis. We were witnessing the embodiment of pure suffering and despair, and our heartache in our helplessness was unbearable.

Our time with the horse was teary-eyed, solemn and prayer-filled. We broke off pieces of bread from our baguette and threw them to him, which he quickly gobbled up. Although the river was so close, there was no way he could maneuver down its banks, so we searched for a container to bring him water, but to no avail, so we soaked the bread pieces with water from our water bottles.

We all wanted the same thing; we wanted this horse’s suffering to end, but we didn’t have the capacity to stop it.  So we did the only thing we had the ability to do in that moment and that was to show kindness and share love with him. Our hearts were still breaking though.

Later, when we arrived at our albergue, we asked other pilgrims if they had seen the 3-legged horse, and no one had. Why had the Camino “provided” us with this gruesome experience of pure suffering and agony?

...to be continued.

the Camino de Santiago (a day of contrasts - the beauty)

“The Camino will provide” is a common mantra on the pilgrimage, and it provided me with a host of insightful experiences, making it difficult to know where to begin. I’m just going to jump in with a day of contrasts; day 5 of my pilgrimage.

Mason and I woke up this morning to a rough night’s sleep. Our room in this particular albergue (pilgrim hostel) had 8 bunk beds and Mason and I were on top bunks with two Spaniard men who didn’t speak any English sleeping below us.  At some point during the previous night, after lights out at 10pm, a cot was brought into our room for a pilgrim who also left in the morning before daylight. Although we never saw him, we sure heard him! It was our first encounter (of too many) with a horrendous snorer...the type of snoring you would swear is magnified by your ear plugs and feels so powerful that it stirs the air into waves that crash against your body and the walls and the ceiling of the room! You get the idea!

When Mason and I hopped off our bunks (actually, I am already waddling at this point because of feet pain), the two Spaniards started imitating the snorer and in charades-like fashion illustrated all of their failed attempts through the night at getting this guy to shut up...shining their flashlights on him, making animal sounds to wake him up and even throwing things at him! I am laughing from my gut - the kind of laughter that brings tears to your eyes and literally doubles you over and makes you worry that you might pee in your pants! I have often heard the phrase “laughter is the best medicine” and for the first time I felt the transformative power of laughter and was truly grateful to start my day with this flood of positivity! 

Mason and I set out walking on this beautiful, crisp blue-skied day, and while climbing a mountain, Mason spotted a faint rainbow. As we reached the top of the mountain trail, the rainbow intensified and we could see our path for many kilometers ahead of us heading directly through the center of this rainbow. Gradually, clouds began to gather and a second rainbow appeared above the first one, both framing a hilltop village (Cirauqui, the first of many villages that Mason claimed as his favorite!) that we were headed towards. The rainbows felt like they appeared for us pilgrims, beckoning us to continue on our journeys with beauty and awe and magic in our hearts.

At lunch, we met up with a travel buddy who had already become like family to us. The day just kept getting better and more beautiful. And then, at the end of our day, the contrast.

...to be continued.

Buen Camino!