Into the Mystic

Sorry that I've been away for a few days, but it was our favorite musical weekend, Michael Hearne's Barndance Weekend, a great collection of singer song writers in the "singing cowboy" meets James Taylor direction. Throw in a yodeler who sings a country version of "All Along the Watchtower" and you might begin to understand the wide range of music. And most of them know each other and write songs together. So in the middle of a set, the singer might stop and say "hey Mike, come up and sing the second verse with me". Very unique and intimate.

I found myself in conversations the last few weeks describing myself as a mystic to people I didn't know very well, and in my usual uncertainty began to question whether or not that sounded too high and mighty. So I asked Kim if it was weird, because she happened to be there, and she said "no, I think it sounds real". See why I love her so. But I also had to explain to some of these people what a mystic is. Here goes. God is everywhere. All the time. It might help to think of God as Life, more than our individual lives but ALL of life. But most of the activity of our minds blinds us to this fact. We're constantly talking to ourselves about what we like and don't like, worrying about the future or the past and we don't feel the Divine energy running through us. So as a mystic, I (rather obsessively through daily meditation) stop/ignore/transcend/watch(or all of the above) the ramblings of my mind to let the divine speak to me through the silence.

Someone asked me what that was like, and the closest I can come is it feels bigger. I still feel like Rick but I relate to Rick more in the same way I relate to everything else in my field of awareness; less from an individual perspective looking out and more as a participant in my environment.

So I encourage every one to slow down a little everyday and watch what you are thinking, because if you are watching your thoughts and emotions, then you are running less on autopilot.

All of this only happens in the now, and right now today it's my birthday. Kim and I have a night out planned, so I'll see you soon.