No One Said Enlightenment Was Easy

Today’s Attire: I’m wearing a dress I haven’t worn in probably 3 years.  Blue print cotton knee length wrap dress (Banana Republic $48), white with silver detail sandals (White House Black Market Outlet $28).

 Outfit Justification: There are three reasons why I’m wearing this dress.  I was supposed to conduct an interview that was canceled and thought I would look as presentable as I could for that. Second, I’m going to the doctor this afternoon and needed something that would be light on the scale when I step on it. Third, I was finally able to get into the damn thing.

 No One Said Enlightenment Was Easy:

I’m not a “new agey” type of person.   But I can appreciate certain aspects of new age beliefs and philosophies.  I have people in my life who believe very strongly in this.  And I love them for it.  I was born and raised in a religious background, I’m Christian, and that’s where my beliefs are. I guess if I have to put a label on me, I could say that I’m spiritual.  But I like to state that I have an open mind. I truly believe that not everything works for everyone.  You have to try a few things.  Sometimes you have to get away from what you know in effort to gain some insight in this life.  I guess I was looking for something new insight in my life.

 Last night I went to a book signing at a new age type bookstore in Venice. My friend who I haven’t seen in 3 years was doing a workshop and book signing.   She sent me a message that she was going to be in town and wanted to invite me to the signing.  This isn’t normally my type of thing.  But something in me said that I needed to make an effort attend.  I told my buddy Natalie that I was going to this, and asked if she was interested in going with me.  She agreed.  I’ve never been to a book signing before, so I didn’t really know what to expect.  Natalie hadn’t been to one either.  I guess I completely missed the part about the workshop.  I was just happy for the opportunity to see my friend again.  I had a copy of her book and I get her weekly inspirational emails, but it’s been awhile since we spoke.  And I thought it would be nice to see her in this setting.

 So leading up to the event, I was in a foul mood.  I had very low energy and was in very low spirits.  When I went to talk to Natalie I said to her, “Oh good, you’re wearing something new agey”. Referring to her turquoise necklace.  She laughed. And then sent an email saying how it was funny that we were going to this, when we really aren’t new age, yogi, philosophical types.  But we were both eager to go to this.   And I’m glad we did.

 When we arrived at the bookstore we were greeted very warmly by my friend, I remembered why I was so eager to see her again.  Her smile always put me at ease even in the most uncomfortable situations.  The funny thing was I was super uncomfortable at this signing.  It was fear of the unknown I guess.  Most of that fell away as the evening proceeded on.  Other people started to arrive and Natalie and I found our seats on a nice cozy loveseat in the corner.  One of the ladies offered us a sound bath.  I accepted her offer despite not knowing what it was.  And I was hoping my face didn’t reflect my thoughts. Because all I had going through my head was “What the hell is a sound bath?”  She then took a metal bowl and some sort of stick and tapped the bowl lightly and rotated the stick around the bowl as it vibrated and made a lovely sound.  She rotated the bowl and stick around my body. Still not understanding what was going on, I just tried to relax and stay in tuned with the sound. Which totally relaxed me.   I watched her repeat the process with Natalie agreed to get a sound bath.  And I kept thinking afterwards, I don’t know what that was, but it was nice. 

 Without going into a bunch of specifics, I learned a lot during this workshop. It was interesting to hear my friend talk about her book and how it came to be. Then going through some of the exercises she suggested for different situations.  A lot of breathing, and listening and quieting outside sounds to try and be in tune with what you need or want.  There was mention of techniques used for coping with things.  I felt enlightened afterwards.   I don’t have any special powers now that I’ve gone to this workshop. I did come out better than I did when I left.  And I think that counts for a lot.  I do plan on trying to use these exercises I learned in the future.  But it’s baby steps.  I tried this morning, but nothing seems to really be effective as it was last night.   But you have to keep trying.  No one said enlightenment was easy.

Here’s a link to my friend’s book: http://www.mikaelajones.com/the-little-book-of-light/ It’s definitely worth looking into because it’s very inspirational.