Day 21 - Sedona - The Clairvoyant Cowgirl

Yup (spit). Um, Hum (spit). That's right (spit). I'm now a full fledged cowgirl. The Clairvoyant Cowgirl is gonna be my stage name when I go on the road. How did this happen to a designer shoe loving, dirt hating, city girl from San Francisco you ask?

Well it started in the morning with my Mediation and Intuition workshops. I learned that intuition (i.e. psychic energy, clairvoyance, etc.) is in all of us, being received through thoughts, sounds and sight. We have all had the "gut feeling" or sometimes hear "a voice" in our head that sounds like our own voice, but the words don't seem to be coming from us. Most people have it, but most people just don't pay attention to it and therefore cannot develop it beyond the occasional hunch.

We practiced a couple of exercises, including pulling words of “intent” from upside down rocks laid out in a medicine circle. The words I pulled were: Joy, Be, God, Patience. Now these are good all around words for pretty much anyone looking to improve their life and connect with a power higher than themselves. But it comes down to meaning for oneself. To REALLY get those you have to meditate (in whatever that means for you). Aunt Marian led me in meditation and this is what I experienced through focusing on each word:

Joy: a bright white light around my head that made me feel light and happy in a way that brought an unconscious smile to my fast.

Be and God: I put these together, because the rocks were so similar that I pulled them at the same time. What was also important for me was the idea that we are all PART of God and not separate from him (that he is some old dude with a big white beard up in the sky), thus we have the “way” within ourselves. I went deeper into meditation when I focused on this. Now many of you may or may not be shocked by who I met there – the angel I have been chasing all over kingdom come. She was holding me up and cradling me in such a way that I felt safe and secure. This was the most overwhelming point of the meditation filled with fear, tears and eventual surrender to the knowing that something bigger than just me alone is guiding me through life. Something keeping me safe and loved.

Finally Patience: Some would say (including myself) that patience is the thing I had to work on the most. Patience for me came in the form of a stream with smooth river rocks that I walked and soaked my feet in. It calmed me. I didn’t need to be anywhere else when I was there. Patience apparently, can be a virtue.

Yesterday brought much needed free time which found me reading until I power napped for almost 2 hours. Especially nice since I have had a nasty habit of waking up at ungodly hours while here (4:00 a.m. this morning). This left me all refreshed for the REAL highlight of my day – The Cowboy Cookout. Now say it with me: YEE HAW!

Having fun at this sort of thing, is all about embracing the kitschy Americana dotting the landscape across this great country of ours. It was an old working ranch that had been converted to a make-shift old west town complete with a shooting gallery, jail, cattle roping area and a big red barn set up to house the most touristy ho down you have ever laid your eyes on. Well apparently this suits me because not only did I learn to rope, I roped a steer (ok fake steer with a tiny head attached to a bunch of metal pipes) on my first try ever; I shot 6 shots at a target and got a bullseye on my second shot and hooted and hollered with the best of them during the evenings entertainment of old Cowboy songs the likes of Gene Autry, Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins (I knew my white trash upbringing would come in handy somewhere).

In case you city slickers haven’t disowned me yet, I wanted to introduce you to someone I have met. He works at the Flying M Ranch as an entertainer. He is my new boyfriend and makes me very happy. I hope you will be happy for us. I have attached a picture of us looking happier than I have been in awhile.