The Very Unexpected Journey

Cosmic Consciousness Isn’t Always What You Think It Is

Yesterday was a very off-the-grid day for me. It began as most of my days do here in San Miguel. I slept until I wasn’t tired. I meditated. Then I checked my email. Upon noticing the internet was down, I got the keys to my out-of-town neighbor’s apartment, let myself in, booted up my Mac, and logged onto a webinar I very much wanted to attend.

So far, so good. The sun was shining. Donald Trump was not yet President. And to my left, wrapped in silver foil, I saw something that looked like gum, so I opened it up and, seeing that it wasn’t gum, but a small bar of chocolate, broke off two pieces and wolfed them down.

The webinar — all about the phenomenon of “collective narrative” — was surprisingly captivating — so instead of playing the role of passive webinar participant, I decided to accept the moderator’s invitation to enter comments in the chat box. “The world is an illusion, but you have to act as if it’s real,” I wrote, quoting Krishna.

The webinar presenter, savvy business consultant, Peter Block, seemed almost Zen Master-like in his demeanor. Deep. Sagacious. And astoundingly precise. The more I listened, the more inspired I got, almost as if I was on the receiving end of some kind of cosmic transmission — what spiritually-minded people would call “shakti”.

Wow! This webinar was definitely impacting me. Fascinated with what I was learning and feeling a sudden need to stretch, I entered into a series of standing yoga positions that looked nothing like the ones in the books I’d bought, but never read.

Webinar over, I began packing up my stuff, but the process of packing seemed to be taking a very long time.

“Hmmm”, I thought to myself. “Maybe it had something to do with me trying to process all of the cool wisdom about story that had just been shared with me.”

Possible? Sure, why not? Who knows how the mind works and how it affects the body. Yes, I was moving more slowly than usual. And yes, I was feeling light-headed, but hey, I was living in a mountain town 6,000 feet above sea level! The air was thin and I, most surely, was not getting my usual dose of oxygen. Strange. I was feeling strange. Not bad…