Spiritual 2x4s

The symbol for Mercury retrograde (a capital R with an extended right tail through which a line is drawn to make an x) resembles the symbol for prescription, Rx. It's certainly a potent moment to revisit and reexamine what might be ailing us, mentally, emotionally, physically or spiritually.

I received an e-mail today that caused me to rethink a car crash I had more than 18 months ago, when I was mentally gearing up to leave Ojai and return to northern California. At the moment of impact, I felt my life was over; that my spiritual freedom had just been revoked by the destruction of my vehicle. Although the car was very old and had no collision insurance, I managed to get it repaired and am still driving it. And I've been back in northern CA for over a year.

But perhaps this wasn't my "intended" destination.

Violette had been exploring moving to Ashland for awhile, and I assumed she was now there. She writes,

"My intentions were finally to head west. Most information coming to me suggested trying to settle in Ashland was not in my best interest. Therefore I thought a nomadic existence as a free spirit would be more interesting, doing my teaching whereever there was interest.

"However, the Universe had other ideas and hit me over the head with a spiritual 2X4. While driving home one night my brakes failed, just as I saw a stopped vehicle some 200 feet ahead of me. I was unable to go to the right or left of it because of a river to the right and an oncoming vehicle to the left. My car was totaled, an older car (on which) I no longer could afford to pay the cost of collision insurance, only maintaining maximum liability and medical.

"I grieved my perceived loss of control of freedom without my wheels for about 2 weeks. Finally coming to the conclusion that being a free spirit was not incumbent on a car, I accepted the invitation of my oldest, married granddaughter in Costa Rica to come live with them...

"We think we know what we want to do...man proposes and God disposes (and God smiles)."

Now as I commend Violette on her resilience, courage and insight, I wonder where else I might be geographically. I've felt like a world citizen for a number of years, quite willing to serve nomadically with a proper means of transport, such as a camper van. As it is, my trusty old Toyota Corolla has carried me across the country and back, and then some. At one point Mexico seemed to be beckoning, although I do not speak Spanish and do not feel called there.

The "where", of course, matters far less than the "how". How we choose to live and serve is what makes the difference in the end. But Violette's story, so similar to my own, has given me a thoughtful bone to gnaw this late autumn day. I invite you to ponder your position, too. Are you where you need to be, metaphorically as well as literally?

Enjoy this Mercury Rx. It is all about communication, inner and outer. Blessings.