A First

An extraordinary thing happened today. I got on an airplane, took off into the sky and was not afraid. Those of you who know me well can attest to the fact that I don't enjoy flying. In fact, I have been known to break out into anxiety attacks while on board. Not to be confused with the time I passed out and woke up with an oxygen mask on my face - but that's a whole other story. As I was drifting off into a fitful sleep last night, I was troubled by the moths of anxiety stirring in my guts. I was afraid to get on that plane, afraid to die in what would certainly be a fiery ball of death. Surely my plane would go down, I'd die alone, afraid and alone.
Sounds......like crazy talk. And crazy I am not.
So I did a bunch of deep breathing and tried to push out my fear. I replaced it with a love of experiencing life rather than hiding from it. It's too touchy-feely to get into, the kind of stuff that makes most of my friends roll their eyes at me. But it worked. And as a result, I was able to actually enjoy the process. Instead of being afraid all the time I was able to see things as they were. Here's some fun stuff that happened today:

• somewhere between Montreal and Washington I flew over a pack of trees shaped like the state of Texas
• on my way to the airport at 6:45 this morning the last of the full moon was hanging off the edge of the city. full, bleeding amber into the quickly fading night.
  
• while waiting in line for customs i overheard 2 men discussing their recent athletic shoe purchases. one wanted to know why the other insisted on shopping in the junior men's department. they were both around 35.
• when I got off the plane in Knoxville it was 22 degrees.
• i ate a dirty but amazingly delicious burrito 5 hours ago. I'm still full.
  
• a framed picture of me and my uncle is sitting on the mantle. i didn't put it there :)
• i'm piecing together a work of art for a dear one.
• being here makes me feel like i'm part of a lineage, a history whose blood and story includes my own.
• UB and I can sit for hours without speaking. he looks like my mom - sometimes it makes my heart stop.

I am looking forward to regaling you with more tales on this very, very PG adventure. Rest assured that my soul is being fed exactly what it needed.