Half Way

As I write these words, I am half way through my solitary retreat. I have not been in complete silence. I considered it. It is not what has been called for. Each day, I've had the opportunity to share a few brief words with someone passing or with the nuns here at Nada. Yesterday, I paused for a few minutes in the garden to pick arugula and shared a few inspiring moments with Father Eric. It doesn’t make sense to follow someone else’s rules in life. I have found, through this silence and inner direction, that each soul knows what is in its highest good.

Yesterday I went to Mass for the first time and to a communal breakfast after mass. I said I wouldn’t talk too much. Naaah.. Not my reality.

I met a friend who was at the recent ISSSEEM conference and we shared a few moments together. I ran into another beautiful soul who stopped by to bring me green smoothie from the ashram. And then, breakfast. The conversation turned to work, radio interviews and those who’ve inspired me. I was inclined, from within, to converse and to share. We were 6 at the table. It was a lovely breakfast and we each came away having been enriched. I am so grateful that I was able to share. There is great joy in giving and receiving.

I am now back in solitude and will be for 3 full days. Maybe another beautiful Buck will cross my path and I’ll rejoice out loud with an,” Oh my goodness,” or maybe I will offer to assist someone carrying food back to their hermitage. I am open to the possibilities as they unfold.

I will bear witness to each situation and be free to enter into exchange -- or not -- however the moment moves this being ... to be.

What I have learned in the past 24 hours:

Refrigerators can be very loud in the silence.

Letter writing is cathartic for the soul.

We can be asleep when awake – and awake when asleep.

Fresh picked chamomile smells like buttery honey.

Mothers’ bring magic to the family system.

Big powerful desert storms -- resolve with a rainbow.

Getting sand in your socks means you’ve walked a new path.

Listen to your heart before setting out on any new journey.

Going and Growing

This is it. I’m heading into the mountains and will not be out for a month. I will have no cell service and limited online access. I will be keeping an accounting of my observations. I will share those with you at the appropriate time.

I’d like to offer a summary of the four days I experienced at ISSSEEM, The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energy and Energy Medicine.

I learned about a field called Energy Psychology. Learn more at ACEP. The Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology. They are about 10 years old, in their pre-pubescent stage, seeking to integrate into the adult world of standards and measurements. Like any new organization, they have been met with resistance, judgment and limitations; some imposed from within and others from without.

This seems to reflect the process of emergence for us, as individuals, and for our world today as we birth a new consciousness. What I learned from this experience is what many of us are experiencing.

It is more important that we unify within before we attempt to define and present ourselves to others. This requires many visits to the internal caverns – many encounters with the fire in the belly -- and a deep inner resolve as the shedding of tightly bound skin, exposes the most vulnerable and raw aspects of the inner self.

I met with Lindsay Wagner, the Bionic Woman from 70’s fame. She has found a beautiful inner balance and resides in a loving, open and inviting space. She warmly opened her heart to me as we sat on her hotel room bed and connected deeply for 3 hours. She offered me the oneness blessing which is also known as deeksha.


The entire session was videotaped and audio recorded and you will be privy to that in the future. Suffice to say, love brings up the opposite of itself and I met aspects of myself that were less than love. Having so much positive energy circling my auric field, the two mingled and I find myself today, embracing, in a deeper way than I have ever known, the whole of who I AM.

May this blog be an invitation for you to loose yourself into the beauty that abounds: Rest your attention upon nature for a moment in the next week and know our oneness --- our connection – first within ourselves and then --- with each other.

Love from my heart to yours! Liz

Summer Solstice

On the spring Exquinox, while traveling with a friend in Colorado, inspiration found its way into words that emanated from my mouth in the form of a short sentence. "Take a 40 day retreat," I heard, first in my head, and then in a statement that was overheard by my friend. Go to back to the desert, I queried, my head cocking to one side like a puppy who's heard an unfamiliar noise. How could this be?

Somewhat alarmed by my own reaction to hearing these words project from my vocal chords, my traveling companion Doug Fisichella, son of my late teacher Tony Fisichella, laughed. " Oh Liz, you are so dramatic. 40 days and 40 nights.... why don't you sit with it for a while and see what happens" And so I did.

Doug and I were leaving Crestone Colorado where I had just completed a three day whirlwind interview marathon with ten spiritual leaders from various walks of life including Shintoism, Hinduism, Native American traditions and an exceptional visit to a Carmelite Monastery. I was truly taken with the Carmelites. Susie and Connie at Nada Hermitage got under my skin with their beautiful , peaceful, centered honest hearts. I was moved by the sense of depth the nuns exuded. My soul knew what I needed to do. And after a few short weeks, where mountains were moved in my life to make this possibility a reality, I e-mailed Nada and requested a week-long stay from June 26 - July 2, 2008. The dates were available and clearly, I was on my way to the 40 day.

Goethe once said, "...the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

Needless to say, many events transpired that opened the avenues of possibility. My business of 12 years folded, an invitation to interview leaders in the field of Energy Medicine in Boulder was presented and all this came at a time when the words Summer Solstice was reverberating in my head.

So I am off to an adventure and onto the plane in just a few hours. The journey begins at the ISSSEEM Conference from Friday, June 20th -- Summer Solstice until Monday, June, 23.

Doug will travel with me to Crestone on Tuesday, about 4 hours from Denver, and I will be at the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram until the 26th when I enter into silent retreat for a week. This kid hasn't been silent for one full day since I was a fetus. Heck, I was probably yakking it up in the womb. So this will surely be a feat --- or better yet --- a feast!

I will return for three weeks to the ashram, after the silent retreat, culminating on the holy day of Guru Purnima, the day you honor your Guru. Not having any one guru, I have been advised to honor the guru within.

My good friend and numerologist, Michael Brill will collect me in Crestone on the 20th of July and we will travel to his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I am planning to interview Roshi Joan Halifax at Upaya Zen Center during the few days I am visiting.

A rental car will bring me back to Denver and Doug, who by the way is a great musician, will bring me into the recording studio. Somethings coming --- certainly an audio book --- the title --- Summer Solstice.

I fly home on July 29th. It all seemed to happen, through Providence .