What an incredible day I had yesterday. I got up at 5 in the morning, fell back to sleep and then really got up at 6.
Off I drove by 6:30 am, gassed up the car and headed south.
Road trip.
There is something wonderful and free about being on the road. You don’t know where you’ll stop, you’re present to immediate things like the need to stop for a bathroom somewhere soon, or a drink of water, fill the tank, or to charge your laptop so you can keep listening to the recording.
I had all the windows rolled down (I don’t own a car with air conditioning) and started getting hotter the further south I drove.
And hotter.
And hotter.
And then I was sweating profusely. Hmm. Kind of hot outside (I found out later it was 100 degrees F).
Floating through my mind was the objection “I should have thought of this, I should have borrowed a car with AC, why didn’t I remember it might be this hot?”
If it gets much hotter, I can’t stand it.
Is that true?
Is it true that I have to stand it? If it got hotter, is it true that I wouldn’t stop and go inside somewhere?
No. I would.
Heat could interrupt my trip. I have to get there on time. I have to get there before my YOI group meets (our teleconference call meets at 5:15 pm). This has to go as planned.
True? No.
Who would you be without the thought that you have to get there, in the way you planned, in the manner in which you planned it, at the expected tolerable temperature?
Ha!
Freely driving, seeing landscape change, listening to air and motor, sweating, silence.
And to top off the sweetness of feeling so free, at the same time as being so hot, I arrive at my good friend’s home, I sit in her air conditioned house talking and connecting happily, I take a shower (showers are AMAZING, aren’t they?), she serves me cold water (stunning) and then I get to put on my headphones and meet with Year of Inquiry folks.
We’re in the topic “Worst Case Scenarios” and we question our beliefs about death.
“When you question what you believe, the mind is free, and it’s no longer at war with itself. And it’s unlimited–genius is an understatement.” ~ Byron Katie
Later, dinner, strolling in the gorgeous little town of Ashland, Oregon, hearing loud calling from Richard III on the outdoor stage performance underway over the wall.
The moon hangs in a midnight blue sky.
What an incredible life, even at 100 degrees.
It was not too hot.
I had more appreciation and joy for cold water, friend, AC, a fabulous group who dials in to a phone call to investigate death, dinner, the moon, than I ever could have dreamed of without the heat.
Much love, Grace
P.S. Serenity link didn’t work yesterday, I know. You’ll be able to read the update on Serenity next week instead.