A few days ago, I was in conversation with my long time friend Brian Farias. We met back in the early 90’s, if memory serves. He is a creative soul…a musician, music teacher, band leader and spiritual explorer. He lives cross country in Las Vegas and I am in the Philadelphia area. The last time I saw him was Halloween weekend 2015 and we went to the infamous Las Vegas strip. He was ensconsed in a Gumby costume and I was garbed in a pirate wench get up. His partner Kent was clothed in his civvies and watched with amusement as people greeted Brian with classic line from the Saturday Night Live skit, featuring Eddie Murphy; “I’m Gumby, dammit.”

Whenever he calls, he begins the conversation with, “So, Miss Edie…are you stopping to smell the roses?”  He is one of the many friends who remind me to sloooow my pace and enjoy life to the fullest. I usually sigh and refresh my memory. I was on my way to have lunch with another dear friend, Sandy Andersson who I refer to as a chiropractor (and now yoga teacher) “with hands and heart of gold.” I had already written a few articles and took a break to socialize; so symbolic rose smelling was happening.

I was telling him about my upcoming trip to Toronto for my friends Shayne Traviss and Tim Emberly’s wedding, followed immediately by hopping on a plane that will wing me westward on my first journey to Portland, Oregon, where I will be meeting my new ‘family of choice,’ invited and hosted by a soul friend named Tom Ziemann.  There I will begin what I am calling my Portland Miracle Tour as I will be teaching three times that week. I shared with Brian that in preparation, I needed to get my ducks in a row so that I could relax enroute. I have check lists of tasks that have to be accomplished in addition to my regular routine.

He laughed and asked if I had ever actually seen ducks stay in a row. I joined him in chuckling and admitted that they mostly meander and don’t always walk in linear fashion. Kind of like my wandering mind, that needs to be lassoed back in when it goes too far afield. Lately,  it has been going off into every direction, as I move backward down the numbers line with should woulda coulda, what if and if only, thoughts and leaping ahead with “Ooohhh, how cool would it be to….” images.  Remaining present has been an interesting endeavor.

I am learning to allow events in my life to unfold and finding that the results are, more often than not, just ducky.