Pilgrimage

Dambara and I have been on a couple of pilgrimages together, and I must say, those trips spoiled me for any other type of vacation. Hawaii, Costa Rica, New Zealand, all the places that one would think would be fabulous destinations, hold very little appeal to me now. Being on a pilgrimage immerses you in a divine experience, one where your soul soars and your heart stays open for hours and days on end.

We leave in three hours for a trip to the holy land. I've never been to the African continent, so this will be a completely new part of the world. I had the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to the holy land about six years ago, and I decided not to go. But this time, we're going with the Palo Alto group, led by Asha and Shanti. Holy cupcake! Pilgrimage; a place I've never been; with 40 or so dear friends; led by Asha and Shanti. I can't imagine a more perfect world.

Our friend Lajanna will pick us up, very soon, and we'll go have a Thai lunch, partly because we all love Thai food, and partly because they're open, on this newest day of a new year in a new decade. Then, Lajanna will drop us off at the shuttle stop, which will take us to SeaTac, from there to London, then to Tel Aviv.

We're arriving a few days early, to give us a chance to adjust to the new time zone, and also to have some time together, letting the busy-ness of refurbishing a new home and a new life drop away from us. I'm so looking forward to this time with Dambara, all of it; lunch together, the shuttle ride through Seattle traffic with neither of us driving, relaxed time at the airport, the long first leg, the lay over at Heathrow, then the last hop to Tel Aviv, the taxi to our air BnB, settling in, looking around.

See what pilgrimage does? The grace and joy descend even before we walk out the door!

Happy New Year, everyone! May it be a year of joy and abundance.

I should go pack. . . .

Meditation shawl, check!