Abraham: MANIFESTATION IN REAL TIME

MY MIND IS OFFICIALLY BLOWN

Just 10 minutes before beginning this Vortex Diary I opened an email I received from my brother and got swept into the Vortex on a HUGE tide of alignment confirmation. You know how Abraham says that we don't necessarily know the how's and who's and when's of the manifestation of our desires? That if we work on raising our general vibration and begin having faith in the reality of the Vortex, we'll eventually go from hope to a knowing, which then allows us to become the genius creators that we truly are? And that manifestations begin happening almost in real time? We think it and there it is? And that really, it's a remembering of what we knew before we manifested physically? Well, that's where I am in this moment: I just caught up with who I really am and am enjoying my genius status very much (it really fun to be a genius, I'm finding).


Here's the scoop: I've been placing phone calls to my very busy brother who lives in the land of 7-foot snowdrifts back East. I've been calling him off and on for weeks and he's called me and we haven't connected. If I try to reach someone and can't and find myself thinking anything negative, I say, "I'm having a Step One Moment right now. Wow, my Step Three (the Manifestation) must be getting really big!"


He called me back yesterday and we had a short and very pleasant conversation as he and his wonderful wife set out on a walk into the snow trenches that are currently their streets. At the end of the call, he conveyed a message from my sister-in-law, saying that she missed the Vortex Diary. I told him that I would not only write a blogpost that very day, but that I would dedicate it to her, which I did when I sent out the Vortex Diary email notification to my blog readers. 


Now if you watched the second video I linked to yesterday or read that post, you know that I've been changing my approach to the Vortex. I've been waiting to be swept in and then milking it and doing my creating from inside the Vortex. I began writing yesterday's blog immediately after I spoke to my brother, whom I love as much as I love anyone in the Universe and with thoughts of my sister-in-law, whom I also love like that, so I got swept in as I began writing. I had been intending to write about that experience of those buzzing white-light dots outside my head because it had been so vivid and so profound, and these wonderful people INSPIRED me into action, which is very different than MOTIVATING myself to do something.


Sidebar: I had coffee Saturday afternoon with a beloved friend and I was explaining to her my understanding of this Abraham concept, which sharpened the concept in my mind. I think this concept is hugely important in understanding Abraham.


So I finished the blogpost and sent it off into the Universe and I felt good about it. And sometimes because I'm doing this new thing of waiting to be swept in, I get a little antsy if I'm not in the Vortex in a big way. So when I had those thoughts I'd just do the, "I'm doing that thing that I do (that disconnects me from Source Energy); aren't I precious," and move on. I puttered, watched YouTube, sent some emails, cleaned up my email and my DVR, talked on the phone, watched a movie and tv, sang, installed and played "Plants Vs. Zombies" which I got from my beloved son for Xmas, made some really good tuna with sauerkraut mixed in, played around with an RSS feed for the blog, and VEGGED! (I'm a bachelorette--my partner is out-of-state.) And when I felt really good, I'd look at the kitchen picture on yesterday's Vortex Diary and get excited about it. (I waded through a lot of "after" remodel pics for that one and it's really close to what I want in my kitchen.) Or I'd dream about some thing or experience I want to have. All from inside or around the Vortex.


And I noticed an email from my bro, but for some reason I didn't open it. BUT JUST NOW WHEN I DID........


I found a video. I started playing it. It's one of those vids with the powerful music and the still photos and drawings and I immediately began underestimating it. In fact, I used the scrubber bar to move ahead in the video and saw some words that caught my eye right at:


2:49 in the video


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNaGMS4rz6U&feature=player_embedded#


That's where they begin talking about changes in DNA brought about by our thoughts and emotions. I paused the video immediately and wrote my brother the following email (I'll delete and add some things for clarification):

I have been writing and thinking a lot lately about music's affect on me. Back in the late 70's when I lived in the Bay Area, I attended the Berkeley Jazz Festival several times and went to the Keystone (a premier jazz club) and saw some of the great jazz masters (Mingus, Roland Kirk, Stanley Clark collaborating w/Carlos Santana in his Buddhist phase, Jon Hendricks, etc.). And even before that I saw Stevie Wonder for the first time (around 1973) at what is now the Schnitz (in Portland, Oregon), and certain gospel music in that same venue. I would walk away from those experiences a changed person. We used to call them peak experiences and of course they were intensely pleasurable. And to put into words what I felt about the person I was after having those musical experiences I used to say, "That music rearranged my chromosomes."

And that's a phrase I've used ever since then. In fact when I was writing about the Brahms, (see Vortex Diary entitiled "Expansion Expanding") I was going to put that phrase and this explanation into that piece. I actually went online and did some research to see if that could possibly be an accurate statement, but I didn't find what I was looking for (doubt will always block a manifestation) and I did not want to put in some far-fetched idea into a piece that someone who knew more than I did might read someday (giving a rip about what anyone else thinks will also block or slow down a manifestation). So here it is two weeks later and you send me this video that confirms what I've been saying for over 30 years. I bow to you. I love you. Thank you. this email is going straight into my next blogpost along with the link to the video! You are awesome. 

Another example of lining up energy and how alignment puts the right people with the right information right in front of you and even delivers it to our inbox.

MMMMMMWWWWWAAAAAAAA!!!!!! (That's a big kiss from me to you and Edna!) (That's the identity my SIL uses when the 3 of us enter the Vortex together and talk like hillbillies [I use the term lovingly--I am a Mexican/Italian hillbilly from Gold Hill, Oregon, so I'm really a Gold Hillbilly.])

Love,

Judy

After I wrote this email, I went back to finish watching the video. I was already in a total Vortex Blissout when I found an illustration at the following point in the video that moved me to tears:


3:50 in the video


This is an accurate picture of what I was describing to you in yesterday's Vortex Diary. These are the dots of light I described. They're outside the skull and emanating from inside the brain. The only real difference is that I had more dots of light more densely concentrated around my skull and as I tracked the buzzing sensation I found more of these dots of light inside my body in my heart region. 


So, yeah, I don't know how to end this post because I could go on and on, but I'm getting hungry. I'll just mention that while I was writing this I had two more manifestations (one a phone call and one a mail delivery) that I had been wanting.**


So if you're wondering if it's worth it to get into the Vortex and then....


IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




**And when I went looking for an image similar to the one in the video, I went straight to the actual one from the video by googling "brain waves"!

Abraham-Where Have I Been? In The Vortex, N'est-Ce Pas?

Wouldn't it be nice if....I had a new kitchen?

Almost two weeks since I've blogged!!!! And it's not because I haven't been applying the Amazing Teachings of Abraham that are expanding inevitably and rapidly these days because of the synergy of our interactions with them and because of the very nature of expansion. If you haven't been on YouTube lately, GO THERE and listen to the excerpts of the new material from late 2010. Again, here is a list of user names that I listen to, my favorites I list in italics:
homebuiltindoorplane

YourDreamsAreWaiting
vio77x
rickoshields

abenicks

abrahamfan29

Abraham-Hicks

david childerly (EFT tapping/Abraham combo)

goodnewsteam

LeadingEdgeEducation

livingabrahamhicks

marypoppins87

PhillLOL (this guy is new to my list--lives in Switzerland and is an awesome young man)

rachel3107

saraskan

skabdinlykke

SereneandPeaceful

trnjulcica

Some of the "new" ideas that Abraham is bringing to us:
What is current reality is old news; what is in your Vortex is already created and is the reality that we can't interpret with our physical senses, but that is just as real as what we are currently interpreting. Here's something about that:
The Vortex As Current Reality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeyYoA6o4bU


The morning I wrote the blogpost "Expansion Expanding" about being at the symphony and being swept so powerfully into the Vortex (January 16, 2011), I had an experience that virtually blew the top off my head. I wrote that post in a wonderful Vortextual frenzy that started even before I awakened that day. Since I had gone to sleep in the Vortex with Brahms and the two Emanuels and the whole symphony accompanying me into the nonphysical where resistance disappears and we are our most allowing (that's what sleep is), I was in the Vortex the moment I opened my eyes, which was very early and very dark still on that Saturday morning. I was thrilled to be there in my cozy bed and noticed that I was being flooded with ideas and inspiration and wonderful bodily sensations and just a general giddy delight. I had so many ideas, that I reached for my bedside journal and turned on the light to begin writing as fast as I could. I had ideas for tearing apart the narrative convention in writing. I had ideas about working with kids (games to use at a high school level to teach brain and nervous system concepts, languaging to work with those kids, etc.). I was composing the piece that would become that day's blog. I could barely keep up with my brain. My wonderful partner objected to the light, so I turned it off and wrote in the dark and LOVED the process, ADORED the process and loved and adored my partner and myself and all those around me and all of creation. I was love personified and I hadn't even meditated yet that day. I decided to track the sensations that accompanied this rarefied state and found that around my upper head (my crown and forehead area) I felt a buzzing sensation. And while the sensation seemed to emanate from within, I was actually feeling the buzzing outside my body as well--almost as if I was somehow interacting with the atmosphere around me. I experienced this as tiny dots of light (hundreds of them) coming in at me and coming out of me as they suspended themselves in a kind of rounded dome outside my head. So pleasant and energizing. Oh, I thought, with Somatic Experiencing in my mind, what happens if I track that sensation? So I tracked it and found that if I concentrated on the physical sensation of those bright, lit-up, buzzing dots that then I began to feel a similar sensation inside my heart region. This was more like a bar or a shelf of the same buzzing dots, but a little closer together and inside my chest on the left side over my heart. Both sensations intensified as I tracked them and it was extremely pleasurable. By this time, I sensed that my partner was at least partially awake and I told him that I was tracking these wonderful sensations and it suddenly came to me that maybe I was actually physically experiencing intense and unusual neural activity. (At least 40% of the cells in our hearts are neurons--in other words they are another brain.) I was in a completely knowing state and a state of allowing, so I accept that information fully. I knew that this was a result of the musical co-creation of the night before and have experienced similar things in the past with other musicians in other settings, but never with this much allowing on my part. A wonderful and amazing experience, but wait, it gets better.


Ever since I've been blogging, which is, in essence, coming out into the open about being an Abraham fan and being very public about it, my life has been just one long series of synchronicities. At times I barely have time to think a thought before it materializes. For instance, just a few days after the neuron buzz, I found the following excerpt from the October, 2010 Stamford gathering CD, which perfectly and accurately described exactly what I had experienced the previous Saturday morning. Here it is:
The New Tangible Vortex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POKB3agRtq0

And now an appreciative and loving shout out to all those of you who read the Vortex Diary and call me or email me or leave comments or subscribe:
YOU ROCK, PEOPLE!!!!
You know that we are co-creating and every time one of you takes the time to communicate, it is just the gravy on the taters. I will continue writing about these experiences because I truly enjoy sharing them. 
And because of my habitual residence near or in the Vortex, I am now involved in co-creating a new kitchen for our home. I'm already experiencing LOTS of synchronicity in this process. For instance, we met with our contractor and designer one evening last week, after which I was to attend a birthday party. Just before I left for the party, I mentioned that we would like to cut costs by doing as much hands-on work as possible. At the party I talked about the kitchen rehab and another guest begged me to call her for any demo work we might have available because demo is in her Vortex. Oh, yeah!

Abraham-No Need For My Words

A photo I took of a Loie Fuller film projected on the wall at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.

These says it all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FtMXmdYQrI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHorQJsiYmA

Abraham-Expansion Expanding

Emanuel Ax

About a month. That's how long I've been doing the Vortex Diary. 

Results:

My visits to the Vortex are longer.

I get into the Vortex more often.

I have more fun.

I feel better mentally.

I feel better physically.

I feel better emotionally.

I have more energy.

I'm nicer.

I'm smarter.

I'm more inspired.

I'm attracting more of what I want.

People are nicer to me.

Life is easier.

Ad infinitum.

That's just a surface scan. Lying beneath every item on the list I picture a stack of large cerulean blue index cards. Stapled to each--I favor teal-colored staples in this case--is a photo. And I've noted in my own hand bits of the Vortextual characteristics of that experience. And each time I pull out a card to examine it, to appreciate its beauty, to revel and bask in the reliving, yet another card with a photo of me in the bliss of remembrance is added to the stack. For thus is the nature of expansion.

I've added to the blog a Vortex Diary mission statement: To document, share, relive and expand my experiences in the Vortex. I'm in the place right now where I have to narrow my focus as I post. If I were to list every lovely thing that happens as the result of deliberately getting into the Vortex each day, I would never finish. So here are just a couple of index cards' worth of experience.

On Thursday I happened to be home in the morning to receive an email from a good friend. She offered symphony tickets on a first-come, first-served basis and I won!! I went to the symphony website and saw that the guest artists were conductor, Emmanuel Villaume and pianist Emanuel Ax. The performance included the overture from Carl Maria Von Weber's opera, Der Freischutz (The Marksman), a modern piece called Color by Marc-Andre Debalvie and Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. I knew little of Von Weber, really, and absolutely nothing of Debalvie, so I did a little research and started to get excited. Debalvie's approach to music is very esoteric and in this piece he is actually harmonizing overtones, which is pretty jazzy and outside for symphonic music. I listened to parts of both pieces and was pleased. They say Brahms is less accessible than “easy” composers like Mozart. I had a gauzy childhood memory of hearing Brahms from my mother's small record collection. But this concerto, I realized as I listened online, was something new. The first movement is quite dramatic and very beautiful. By enjoying the music I was, without realizing it, pre-paving a wonderful experience.

Friday, the day of the concert, was busy. A full day of teaching in a Brit Lit class in which the students were to review the first three acts of Macbeth by watching Roman Polanski's dramatization of the play. It was filmed in Northern Wales and is excellent. I truly enjoyed watching it all three times and noting where Polanski had omitted or rearranged small passages to enhance the film. I squeezed in a carwash and a swim and by the time I'd redone my hair, it was time for my partner and me to get out the door to our pre-symphony dinner, which was shared with my friend and her wonderful son. I was already in the Vortex and had been at least adjacent all day so dinner was very, very nice with the addition of pleasant and lively companions.

The concert: My partner and I read through the program together and I learned the nationalities and accomplishments of our very famous conductor and pianist. More excited. Emmanuel Villaume is a charming and eloquent Frenchman. I would have been happy just to hear him speak about the music but he was there to conduct. And oh, what a beautiful conductor. I found him to be almost balletic in gesture and body movement. Vortex! I very much enjoyed the first two pieces and was primed for the concerto.

Let's just say I had no idea how much my Vortex might expand under these conditions. This music, on this night, with this audience, in this auditorium, with these musicians, after just such a dinner, after just such a day, during just such a week, during just such a month and after just such a lifetime: all that contrast and allowing had conspired to line up all these elements into just such a moment as this one. Listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D18AujwrQb4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL *

There are many moments in my life in which music has moved me immensely. There are a few that have moved me with such intensity that I know that my body, soul and spirit have permanently altered. For me it happened at the beginning of the second movement. Something about those opening chords hit me and I began ascending on a musical skyrocket. And then I went with the piece into the Vortex with Brahms and we melded minds in there and I was in love with him and music and the world and with life itself. During the third movement I dissolved into the music. The atoms of my body were unbound and floated above and around the Universe amongst the sound waves and vibrations made by not only the instruments but by all the expanded Vortexes of us all there together.

I've been listening to the concerto as I write and I am happy to report that my nervous system does not know the difference between now and that night. If I take the time now to relive those 50 minutes on Friday, today's Vortex is a new and rich experience. Isn't that truly a gift beyond compare? Isn't that one fact alone enough to appreciate for an entire lifetime? I am able to be in the Vortex by remembering being in the Vortex.

Another index card, please.

*(This is, of course, only Part 1 of the first movement. Listen to more if you are so moved, or go to Portland today or tomorrow to be there with Messieurs Ax and Villaume—you might see me there.)

Abraham-My Own Personal Snow Day

Both photos from an exhibit at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. I thought I would remember the very interesting artist's name. I've researched and can't even track it down.

I must congratulate myself for something I find myself doing more often these days. Lemons to lemonade. Or maybe it's thinking about lemonade when I could be thinking lemons.* Or maybe it's just softening my vision a little when I view something "real" and let in the knowing that there may be more to the situation than meets the eye. I know Abraham often speaks of focusing or sharpening focus, but with "reality", I think it may be good to blur things a little or step back enough so the focus isn't so sharp.


I worked on Monday. Mostly my day was blissful and I had one contrasty class with a heavy dose of bliss as seasoning. I knew about this job ahead of time and I don't think the sub robot even called me. So I did think it was odd when the robot called on Friday requesting me for the same teacher the following Wednesday, which was yesterday. It turned out to be a mistake. I had turned down two full-day jobs on Wednesday. Yes, I got paid for a half-day because of the mistake (I actually stayed and worked since I was already up and dressed and eager to see kids), but I noticed throughout the morning that I had begun to think about those two jobs like they were a better option. I could see where that line of thinking would take me and, wouldn't you know it, Abraham had just asked the question, "Would you rather be right or would you rather feel good?" on the CD I'd been listening to in the car on the way to school.


Many in my situation would feel wronged and most would agree it was justified. I could have chosen to go there and I could have called it another Step One clarifying moment. Instead, when I heard those thoughts knocking at the back door, I  said, just loudly enough to drown them out, "I don't have to think about that right now," and went on with what I was doing. 


Besides, teachers are a lot like students. When we're let out of school unexpectedly, we don't mind. In fact there were a lot of disappointed teachers because there had been so much talk of a snow day that never materialized for them and here I was getting half a snow day in a way. 


I decided to make a bold move. I pointed my car South and called a friend who works downtown. She wasn't available, but was happy I'd called. I called another friend who works across town with her family and she said to come on over. I was envisioning a cup of tea and a look at our schedules to make future plans. It was 11am and I had a 3:30 appointment and pleasantly vague plan to pick up some organic veggies in her neighborhood. This would be fun. When I arrived at this very beautiful home, I was surprised to see that her mom, who is usually hard at work during the day, was at home with a cold. My friend and I coffee-klatched in the kitchen for a while and I was going to make myself scarce right after my cuppa so that they could get on with their day. I am so lucky to have this friend. She is fairly new to Abraham, but she is just a phenomenal woman and is seemingly absorbing the knowledge through her pores. So it's fun to have someone with whom to be completely open on the subject. She also played me some beautiful music she had recorded for me and we danced just a little which, of course, releases resistance and raises the vibration. What I love about this particular friend is her ability to have fun. She loves to laugh and we did plenty of that. Since both she and her mom were there, the work that they do was halved and there was space for conversation. Her mom joined us and the conversation just soared. We laughed and listened to each other's stories, though I'm sure I told the bulk of them. We just enjoyed each other's company. It was moving and uplifting and FUN! I would say that we all got into the Vortex at the same time and when I left there I was just buzzing with good energy.


I made it to my appointment with little time to spare. I did some pre-paving on the way, because this was my second appointment with an occupational therapist to work on creating ease and flow in my right wrist. I also realized that the "stim" they do on my wrist takes 15 minutes and so do the Abraham meditations, which I have put on my Blackberry, so I had brought along my earphones in preparation. I do the stim before I work with the OT, so I was in a good space when she brought her lovely self into the room. The wonderful thing about these treatments is that I get to meet very interesting people and to chat with them, and I really liked this woman's vibe. It had occurred to me that I might want to change the steps of the typical patient-practitioner dance. I sensed she was someone I could ask to envision me as well and to see my tendon as lithe and freely-moving in its sheath. I gave her the invitation and she accepted it. We had a lovely conversation and spoke of many things: of shoes--and ships--and sealing wax....she even told me about this:


http://www.sandfantasy.com/

which tells you that she and I are on the same page. 


I listened to the new CD on my way to and from the appointment and, as often happens, found a song I became obsessed with. I deny any firsthand knowledge of headbanging, but I am most appreciative of certain shredding metal solos--they just do something to me. After some research, I found that this guitar god was none other than Kirk Hammett of Metallica. He's featured on this cut "If Rap Gets Jealous" by the wonderful Somalian poet and hip-hop artist, K'Naan. The hot solo comes at the end of the song and if you're going for the full experience TURN IT UP AND DANCE:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhDGkGCOaxs 


And here is a mellower K'Naan with Tracy Chapman:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQvNJvHSKPc


A fully fun day that led into a nice sleeping experience. No surprise that I awakened with lots of new ideas. Here's one:


I'm going to be aware of my thoughts during routines that often are rife with Step One moments. Routines like dressing, grooming, looking in mirrors. I'm sometimes hurrying through these activities and I know the negative thinking is there, because some of the negative emotion and the sensations of activation are there, though it's can be very subtle. Perhaps, I thought, I could turn these times into opportunities for deliberate creation. I could choose what to think about and see where those thoughts lead me. Choose the subject, don't let the subject choose me, I thought. 


I decided then, to think on purpose this morning as I was showering and applying toner and moisturizer and readying my skin for cosmetics and applying them and drying my hair, etc. I chose to think about reading "Animal Farm" to the young man earlier this week. I basked in those thoughts long enough so that other thoughts like them began rushing in, only these were new thoughts. Ideas about how to introduce students to their autonomic nervous systems and their triune brains with games and activities. So many ideas that I had to switch to a larger notebook to contain them at one point. And it was fun to think about and they were stimulating and creative ideas. 


And as I was writing this, I got a call from a delightful woman I met a while back who has a great interest in Peter Levine and Somatic Experiencing, and we're making plans. So there you have it. Getting into the Vortex creates all kinds of unexpected and wonderful things to materialize in your life.


The Vortex Diary started as an experiment in documenting just what happens when I deliberately get into the Vortex on a regular basis. Here's what is true for me:


I get in more often.
I stay longer.
When I'm out, it's easier to get back in.
Because now if I'm not in, I'm at least in the neighborhood.



*I actually like the taste of lemons and often don't find them that sour. 

Abraham-11111 & Getting Into the Vortex Meditation CD

Giant sculptural twig ball in ultra-modern
concrete planter outside a Madrid hotel.

I love the alignment I'm feeling these days and I love numbers lining up as well. So today's date just sends me. I wasn't sure I'd be working today. I'm already doing a MWF thing in one school, so I slept in a little and made preparations so that I could get out the door on time in case the little substitute robot called. So kind of late, I was called to a school way across town to work in an EGC (Emotional Growth Center), where kids who have behavioral or social adjustment issues spend parts of their day. I got there a few minutes late, couldn't find the room right away, so got there just as the bell rang. But the cool thing about special programs is that the support staff really knows the ropes and generally runs the show and the teacher of record is sometimes there just as window dressing. The main gal is someone I'd worked with in the past and I knew she was good with kids so I was pretty happy. 


It turned out better than I'd expected; this was a day filled with gifts initially disguised as scowling teenagers. I got to work one-on-one with several young people, one of whom had intense activation patterns that look like severe obstinance, excuse-making, loudness and rude behavior. (I'm using the non-Abraham vocab that you might see or hear about such a child.) Because of my two passions, Abraham and Somatic Experiencing, I tend to see kids very differently than many educators and even quite differently than I saw them in the past. PTSD causes people to feel overwhelmed, angry, hopeless and frustrated. They also become controlling and overly sensitive and able to find the negative in any situation. Put all that into a teenage body, add hormones and then try to get them to do work that overwhelms, angers and frustrates them, which then makes them feel hopeless and you've got quite a day ahead of you. I could see that this place had their own way of dealing with these issues and I could sense that maybe things had gotten a little stale. I decided to observe and step in where I could. I won't go into too many particulars, but I got into the Vortex while reading "Animal Farm" to a generally pessimistic young person who had an avowed aversion to reading or being read to. This student subsequently wrote a short, clear synopsis of the first chapter and read the second chapter in English class. I hear this is unusual. I used my connection to Source and my functional autonomic nervous system to "hold" a space for these kids to be who they really are. I didn't react to cussing, rolling eyes or various other behaviors that many people can't stand, because I know how utterly wonderful these kids are and how much contrast they've already experienced. And perhaps the coolest thing I know is this: THESE KIDS ARE DOING JUST FINE. They all have their own Vortexes (Vortices, I suppose). Just ask them about their:
-dogs
-cats
-horses
-guitars
-music
-favorite sports


You will see lit-up faces and smiles coming from within as they talk about what they love. Oh, they are precious.


At the end of the day, the woman who runs the place said, "We didn't have to send one kid out into the hall today for poor behavior. Everyone was really on-task."


One beaming heart coupled with one stable nervous system is just so powerful. And I find it energizing. And fun. And satisfying. Hooray.


It was snowing at the end of the school day, so I canceled an appointment that would have left me on possibly slushy roads in rush hour. I had that "snow day" freedom feeling and stopped for a cup of tea and a snack. The place I visited is known for its wholesome young staff and when I walked in the cashier was protesting as her cute guy co-worker was loudly and repeatedly referring to her as "from the Bay Area". 


"Where are you from?" I asked, and she answered that she was from Northern California. 


I told her I'd lived in Redding and her eyes widened. She hails from Ono, a small town near there, and I was living, breathing corroboration of her NorCal identity. 


He (cute co-worker) wasn't giving up so easily. He yelled Bay Area at her a few more times. She and I used facts about mileage and distance to combat him. I got my tea and sat down near some of the cashier's college classmates deeply embroiled in a wedding discussion. While she did sidework in our area, the cashier began describing the hunter green frock she was due to sport at an upcoming wedding. Yeesh, hunter green, I thought. And the cut of the dress sounded awful, too. I sympathized with her and got involved in the conversation. Yes, it really did sound like a bad dress and when you added the poufy lace  at the bottom you had to wonder what the bride was thinking. Hunter green, I asked. Really?(Turns out the family is very outdoorsy.) At least it's not camouflage, I offered. We hooted and hollered over even more bizarre possibilities that made a satin hunter green lacy A-line with a horizontal detail across the widest part of the hip a preferable alternative.


Then cute co-worker told a story of messing with the heads of some middle-schoolers who had come rushing in earlier shouting, "SNOW! SNOW!"


"What snow?" he asked them.


"Can't you see it? It's snowing! Just look out the window!"


"I don't know what you guys are talking about," he dead-panned.


And so on. For quite some time. To the point that one girl went outside to collect snow on her clothing (it was Oregon-style, non-sticking snow so she couldn't actually pick it up).


Then after they'd gone through middle-schoolish caniptions to prove the snow and were on their way out the door, cute co-worker yelled, "HEY, YOU GUYS, IT'S SNOWING!" 


I realized I'd been swept into the Vortex and thanked all those wonderful young people for the fun.


I hadn't had time to meditate before work and I found myself eager to get to Day 3 of the "Getting Into the Vortex" routine that Abraham recommends. I fed the cat and hurried to the living room to plug headphones into my Blackberry and listen. There are four 15-minute meditations: General Well-Being, Financial Well-Being, Physical Well-Being and Relationships. Abraham asks that you read the section in the book on General Well-Being before you begin to use the CD. And that the first week you should listen to the four meditations in order, one per day. To be honest, on the previous two days, I had felt that my breathing was a little forced. I read that the breathing was very important and that it was carefully timed with the music to be a shorter inhale followed by a very long exhale. Abraham says "Breathe in. Breathe out," throughout the CD. I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but today I got the rhythm and began enjoying that aspect. They say that it's not necessary or even desirable to concentrate on the words. It's about allowing and letting go of resistance. I do recall Abraham saying that evidence of alignment and lowering resistance would begin to show up immediately. Scowling teens, bad bridesmaid dresses and messing with middle-school heads sandwiched between layers of laughter and positive regard are perfect signs of my own personal alignment. Cuz that's just how I roll, people.

Abraham-Late Night Vortex

Really cool lounge chairs at the Frankfurt airport. And that's my carry-on, which I always see in my mind's eye as "carrion". The word, not the luggage.

Yeah, I don't think I should be up at 11:49 starting to blog, either, but here I am. I worked two half days in a row--both cooking classes and got off work around 3 today. I had done a lot of cleaning at home in the morning after I meditated, so I'd been on my feet from about 7-10, then went to work and stood from 11-3 and went shopping until 5, so I now realize I was on my feet for 10 hours straight. No wonder my dogs were barking. I couldn't swim until at least 7 because of a water aerobics class that uses the whole pool and dinner was important and my partner made a wonderful roasted pepper and tofu dish with cumin, and perfectly roasted some halved potatoes (Vortex food), which we ate around 6:30. I ate moderately, but wasn't feeling the pool right after I ate. 


Besides, we had to finish "Io Sono L'Amore", which was absolutely spectacular! I would call this a film, not a movie. There is a scene where Tilda Swinton is walking through San Remo in an orange dress that matches the begonias that match the car parked on the street. Then a woman passes through the frame in fuschia dress that matches the geraniums and all this is in contrast with the gorgeous stone buildings that are very lovingly shot. Oh, my! Vortex-worthy mise-en-scene. And the sex scenes: FANTASTICALLY VORTEXY SEXY. I like it when a director shows as much of the man's body as the woman's. I watched "Io Sono L'Amore" twice (the second time to see what the director was doing) and I will rent it again to get another impression and to watch the special features, which I did not have time for. I hope there is a director-narrated version, because that will be Vortex material, indeed. To see pictures of director, Luca Guadagnino, Edoardo Gabriellini and Ms. Swinton, go here:


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0345174/

So, all of me got in the Vortex except my feet. (I'm claiming an in-the-Vortex status, because I heard on an Abraham CD that it's good to do that even if you're in and out or on the edge. Just claim it. I like that.) I don't know if I'm working tomorrow, but up to now when my feet hurt at night and I don't do something, they kinda don't feel their prime in the morning. But, I didn't really want to go to all the trouble of getting to the pool. My partner and I had been chatting and time was slipping by and I was yawning and feeling very beddish. But then it dawned upon me that the video was due tonight before midnight and the video store is right across the street from the pool. I did some mental gymnastics and fought the idea of going swimming so late, but I really did have the desire for the feeling of being in the water and experiencing its silky envelopment. My partner and I negotiated a bit and then I gave in to the call of the water and off I went, reaching the water at exactly 10 PM. I love it when I start my exercise exactly on the hour, too. I find it very aligning. 


It took me a while to warm up. My shoulders and back were actually chilly as I swam, but the water began working its magic on me. I've recently been able to get back to doing the crawl and that is such a gift. I've been doing mainly kicking in the last several months and an interesting stroke I learned from an Olympic swimmer from the 1940's who lifeguarded at the downtown Portland YWCA decades back. It's a butterfly kick with breast stroke arms and it's a really cool stroke. I was the only swimmer and the only pool occupant until 30 minutes into my routine when a guy got in and did a walking workout. I had brought my Yoga Toes with me:


http://www.yogapro.com/?gclid=CNve2oTYp6YCFRBzgwodNgd5pA

and would normally put them on in the hot tub. I haven't used them in a long time--I sometimes forget I have them--and the hot tub use is how I've always done it in the past. But I had a brainstorm while I swam. I could actually wear them while I did my water weights. I have tried to wear them while I swim, but they fall off. I like to wear them for about a half-hour because my feet look so aligned for some time afterward and also feel really good. So I did wear them standing up in the pool; I kept them on as I walked to the hot tub and since I was the only person in the hot tub, I left the jets off and just floated in the warmth. I wear my goggles so I can completely relax without water in my eyes and I can just let my body go. Vortex!


So now it's even later and I'm going to go now. But first I wanted to mention some little things that happened in the last week that I found Vortextual:


-an incredible salmon and pink sunset showing through bare black trees 


-a student who had given me a hard time before winter break giving me a side hug when I passed on a compliment from one of his teachers


-a very funny Craigslist ad title: "Need to published your work in online? here! (salem)" 


-8 hawks on the way to Portland yesterday--8 hawks!


-a marbled pink, blue, gray sky above me at the Keizer mall today


-in general, laughing at my own jokes, like right now when I was editing this post and re-read the last sentence in the caption on the lounge chair photo. And the joke came about as the result of an earlier edit and I laughed both times.


Oh, life is so good, isn't it?

A Madrid street performer who would fit nicely into the lounge chairs in Frankfurt.