Thursday is my other day off. Dad’s caregiver Shannon comes earlier. I must drive all the way to Denver, to the Denver branch of the Taoist Tai Chi Society. My husband David found their school in Fairbanks 11 years ago, and I soon joined him, to see what he found so uncharacteristically exciting. Moving meditation with a variety of calm, invariably pleasant people. Wow! I’m addicted! I can feel the energy flowing through me in parts of the choreographed “set.”
Kathy and Ginny at Taoist Tai Chi Society in Denver, wearing new Year of the Horse T-shirts from the Alaska branch (Fairbanks).
Because both Christmas and New Years were on Thursdays this year, and because one caregiver was quite sick for a while before that, I have not been to tai chi much for the past couple of months. I was feeling almost desperate to go! Although I missed chauffeuse Kathy’s company, this way I could drive down any canyon I wanted. I drove the scenic Peak to Peak highway south all the way to the gambling center, Black Hawk, then turned down the best of the canyon roads, Clear Creek Canyon down to Golden. The views were spectacular on this glorious day. My heart was soaring like my eyes up to the high peaks!
I do tai chi on my own in the basement of my father’s house almost every day before bedtime and sometimes during the day if I’ve been sitting too long or I’m waiting for the laundry. I feel my body energizing and my hyper-mind calming. However, there is a whole other quality of energy produced when doing tai chi with a group. Like meditation, the group dynamic adds immeasurably to the experience. Being with my classmates again felt magical!
After tai chi class on Thursdays, I meet my brothers for lunch near their work. Two to four of us have been meeting after tai chi class ever since I started spending summers here. This is such a delightful experience, especially in light of my not seeing much of them for the 30-plus years I spent in Seattle and Fairbanks. We catch up on news and share jokes and make plans for special occasions—very mundane, but so connective and contenting.
(Until this summer, we used to also meet for lunch on Mondays, with Dad. But as he slept more and later, then got too weak to want to bother, that practice fizzled out. The staff at the Fazolis in Arvada were wonderful to us and Dad. We miss them and our Monday lunches there.)
The drive between Golden and Boulder is lovely, and I contentedly sipped my gourmet coffee on the way back to Boulder, aah. I can always find errands to do, walking or shopping to indulge in, before heading to Panera for a dinner at sunset. Panera’s big windows face the Flatirons of the Front Range, centered on Boulder Canyon. I settle in with my soup and salad about 4:30, and write in my journal between oohing and aahing at the sunset over those magnificent hills.
When my journaling is caught up, I also read the book in my travel-tote bag, which is always about death and dying—my study about understanding what might be going on with Dad and getting ideas on how to care for and cope with him. Such books are very insightful and inspiring, rather than depressing. My Dad is quite the silent stoic, as is typical of his generation. Sigh. So I must study and try to read his mind.
Another highlight of today is the two-Thursdays-per-month Dream Group at Caritas Spiritist Center, where Kathy works and volunteers at energy-healing. Kathy and I joined this group when we started our first class in Jungian dream interpretation, also at Caritas, in July 2013. Doubtless, I will wax eloquent on dreams, occasionally. They have taught me so much already, as limited as my skills are. Having a group of friends help figure out what the oddities in dreams might mean is HUGELY helpful!
I am beginning to—sometimes—get the gist of a dream. However, dreams are messages from the subconscious, trying to help one learn more about an issue and possible approaches to working with it. One’s subconscious is often pointing out one’s own blind spots. However, those darn symbols are often so vague and obscure, and they work on multiple levels. They are very hard to interpret. Call on your dream buddies, with their different backgrounds and perspectives, and let them figure it out for you. Fear not, YOU will help THEM with their dream next time.