Sunday, April 19, 2015

Goin' to Asheville Tennessee

Written - April 15, 2015 (posted April 19, 2015)

On April 15th I was sitting in the airport having just completed five wonderful days in Asheville, North Carolina and looking forward to another fantastic handful of days in New Jersey and New York.

First, I want to mention a little thing that took place during my prep for this trip. As I was preparing to come to Asheville I starting singing, in my head, and sometimes out loud to the tune of “Going to Graceland” by Paul Simon, “Going to Asheville, Asheville, Asheville Tennessee…” Asheville is NOT in Tennessee; however, "going to Asheville, Asheville, Asheville North Carolina" does not work at all. So I kept singing about Asheville Tennessee.

When I got to Asheville and picked up my upgraded rental car, the plates, of course, were Tennessee plates. How could it have been anything else?

My flights into Asheville were also interesting. On flight number one into Atlanta I had a window seat, and as I was getting settled, I started having a nice conversation with a man who was sitting in the row behind me. Another man who was going to be sitting on the aisle seat of my row - a light-filled, really kind man - helped me get my too heavy backpack up into the luggage compartment. Everything was flowing. Then the man in the row behind wound up in the aisle seat and a sort of dour gentleman sat in the middle. I was actually feeling like I should switch seats with the man in the middle but didn’t follow my intuition.

Very long story very short... I was involved in Scientology on and off for a number of years. I actually loved the classes and processes, but they wound up scaring me off, and then blessedly lost track of me for MANY years. A few years ago they somehow found me again. I’ve had some nice conversations with the Scientologists who keep calling me, but they always end with me saying thanks, but no thanks. I am aware that I am calling all that in by my attention to it and my frustration with it. While in Asheville, I checked my home messages and there was a call from my old Scientology “friend” Phil; I deleted it. I recycle, without opening, all personal letters and advertisements and newsletters from Scientology.  I’m just not interested, though my energy is obviously giving off a different vibe. I know when I get truly in sync with what I really want, they’ll lose me again.

Back to the flight. I was speaking with the gentleman in the middle seat and he was, of course, a trainer with Scientology. We had very little to say after our initial conversation, and I mostly focused on a book I am reading preparing for my next great adventure: China.

At the end of the flight, when we were all crowding the aisles getting ready to get off the plane, I started to speak with the gentleman who had been behind me, and then on the aisle, and, as it turns out, he had been to China many many times and really knew the country. I felt like hitting my hand to my head and saying “I could’a had a V8!” Oh well, all is well and I will get all the China information I need when I need it.

The Abraham-Hicks workshop was fantastic, and the hotel we were in was wild – as my daughter said it felt like we were in Wonderland. The lobby was above our sleeping rooms, and locations were hard to pin down (at least for me). Floor 10 and floor 8 were sometimes the same floor. A little wild and crazy, but it was fun, the seminar was illuminating, and I was also looking forward to heading back to the Biltmore Inn for our last few days – the place where my friends and I had first experienced Abraham-Hicks in Asheville. I became aware when we crossed onto the grounds of the Biltmore that I had not really felt like I was IN Asheville until we got to the Biltmore. 

Our time there was illuminating and I had a wonderful (unfortunately from my April 19th perspective - short lived), experience of dealing with one of my biggest life challenges: food. I’m a little addicted and don’t always have the wherewithal to say “no,” even when I’m full. But something happened once we were at the Biltmore. I started to become more and more aware of my body and what it  wanted, and I ate only what my body asked for, and only the amount that my body wanted. I’d rarely experienced this before, and it was fantastic (reading this again is, for me, a somewhat inspirational and perhaps that is why I have to keep it in!). 

Something happened while we were there, and for and to whatever it was, I am heartfeltly appreciative.

Just a few more little in the vortex/groove/sync experiences. Going to lunch and being pointed to one table but wanting another and getting what I want and doing that kind of thing so much that I wasn't even aware I was doing it until it was pointed out to me. Good sign (and I've been doing it here in NJ/NY as well so that, at least has stuck!)

At one point I really wanted a Rubin sandwich - I hadn't had one for years - but I wasn't sure it was a great choice - however, my friend Amy just happened to mention that she wanted one, but not a whole one, so we shared. It was perfect.

At the beginning of this entire being in Asheville experience my daughter and I walked into the large Omni hotel and Amy was, at that moment, walking across the lobby.

On our last day at the Biltmore, Amy and I decided to go for a walk in the woods across the street from the Inn. We didn't know where we were going, but that didn't matter. We came across a beautiful wild turkey as well as a herd of deer running down the trail near us! We even had one deer stop and watch us as we walked for a while. We got back to the Inn while it was still light, and the evening, our last at the Biltmore Inn, was sweet and comforting. 

All in all it was a magical and fun week filled with light and joy and goodness in all areas.

Have a miraculous and joyful day, week, month, year… forever yourselves.