After that exhausting workshop, I had a leisurely day, aah, sleeping in, showering, and enjoying my lovely hotel room a bit. I caught up with email and Facebook, after a break of almost three days. That helped me transition back to the waking world and normal life.

I had a lovely drive back up country roads to Boulder, where I met my sister, Kathy, and our friend Pidgeon (long story) for my first decent meal in three days. They had come from a lovely long hike with their dogs. We were all full of lively conversation. The weather was so warm we ate outside on the patio! Heaven.

I returned home to Dad’s house: unpacked, watered the wilting plants, wound the grandmother clock, walked around the block. I could see that my daughter, Elizabeth, had indeed come by the day before, to pick up the credenza from the foyer. She had also gone through the drawers in the garage: clearing out old maps and art supplies and finding some lovely unframed art prints and memorabilia from Dad’s favorite job at Aerojet in the 60s.

I had dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, watched the weather forecasts on television, then went downstairs for bedtime ablutions and tai chi. All seemed fine, normal.

I started my tai chi set, focusing on the fluid movements and resulting energy surges. Well, relaxing my mind seemed to awaken demons I didn’t know I had! I had a surprise anxiety attack about clearing out Dad’s house, the estate sale in two weeks, and needing to pack all my own stuff before that, and I always hate packing, rant, rave, blah, blah…!

Wow! I stumbled through the tai chi set, trying to refocus on the motion and energies, but was derailed by the E-motions. This was ridiculous; I know better! So I sat erectly on the meditation couch; chimed my brass bowl to signal my mind to calm down and focus inward; held my hands over my heart chakra and quartz crystal; and sorted through the rampaging thoughts and emotions. It worked!

• Kathy wants to prepare for the estate sale in two weeks.
• My stuff needs to be out of the way before then, so I can help set up.
• I have to go through Dad’s things first, both to organize them and to see what I might want to keep for myself and pack.
• The inevitable mess will stress me out; I may have to move out—maybe to Kathy and Kevin’s house or even to the local hotel.
• I must schedule mover to come take my already-packed boxes and some furniture items—maybe a week before estate sale, which is a week and a half from now.

Well, I developed goals and plans within short order and surprisingly soon calmed down. With the immediate crisis aborted, the meditative-level messages filtered up to consciousness.

The Universe is telling me that now is the proper time to pull up the proverbial anchor and set off on a new journey. I am done with my spiritual apprenticeship in Colorado. I must take my new learning and bring it home to Alaska, for the next phase of my life.

I also put the weekend’s workshop to immediate use—NO VICTIM MENTALITY—JUST GET TO WORK & GET IT DONE! MOVE ON! Don’t resist the inevitable; resistance just makes things worse. I know I have to pack and move. Detesting the moving process is just a bad habit well established. I want to go home; I can’t get there without leaving here. Right!