How to experience the profound in the mundane?  This has been my exploration over the past months here in the Archives.  I’ve tapped broken washing machines, fresh squeezed juice, faulty corkscrews and scant blog stats searching for a richness in the ordinary.  These simple moments have never let me down, always revealing a twinkle of life’s deep treasure in their seemingly common place.

Leaving the routine of my familiar life and traveling these past two weeks has been nothing short of remarkable.  Suddenly, my world is full of exciting experiences and revelations aplenty.

Rich inner transformations occurred during my  recent solo journey to California’s coastal lush.  Instead of  trying to glean some semblance of meaning from the everyday, I’m now attempting to assimilate the profound into my daily life.

The process has been scattered and I’ve found myself challenged to write about this wellspring of emotions and insights.  I’ve tried (outside of any chronological order) to encapsulate the moments with the posts “15 Seconds of Grace” and “At the Threshold“.

I try to describe the unraveling.  How I slowly shed the layers until my skin became an opalescent sheath of shine.  It felt as though my heart beat in a glow just at the surface of my chest, pumping golden light through my pores and springing forth silver tears of life juice at simple moments of beauty.  Songs spilled forth from my throat.  Genuine smiles with strangers were exchanged with strong eyes and caring glances.  Breaths were long and full.  Body relaxed.  Heart happy.  I was home to myself.  In love.  Moving through each moment in a graceful dance.

And then it was time to get into my car (hadn’t turned the ignition for 5 days).  Engage the gears and accelerate away from this feel-good haven.  Advance into the next chapter.  This entailed my seven year old son.  Groceries.  Coordinating schedules.  Holidays with family.

Raw and open, bursting with inspiration and feeling, how do I gracefully integrate the essence of this experience into my life?  In one moment I’m singing to dolphins on a cliff’s edge and the next I’m on hold with Sears listening to muzak trying to purchase a protection agreement for electronics.  These moments seem to be polarized in completely different worlds.  Yet, the common thread is me.  I am the living bridge between them – experiencing both and attempting to reconcile.

I want to embody that soaring magic of the dolphin moment at sunrise while I listen to the pre-recorded voices keep me on hold on my iPhone.  I want to be the conduit through which the profound links to the mundane.

Aspirations are high but reality shows I’m on a learning curve.  Since my epic soul-enriching sojourn, I’ve had communication breakdowns with two siblings and my son.  But I’ve also felt the magic in casting wishes to the sea at sunset and watching a hawk shake the stream from its feathers in a deep green pasture.  Fits and starts.

This bridge is still building its foundation, trying to trust in the wisdom of construction.