I was looking for a quote to share this morning in my meditation group and ran across this:

“On a personal level, the soulful path invites us into a profound intimacy with our own being. It is a slow and tender unfolding, like the petals of a flower opening to the sun, where we come to know ourselves in the full richness of our humanity. Here, we learn the art of presence, of dwelling fully in the now, where the past and the future lose their hold, and all that remains is the sacredness of the present moment. In this place, we find a deep well of peace, a stillness that nourishes the soul and allows us to hear the quiet voice within—a voice that speaks not in words, but in the language of the heart, guiding us gently along the path of our true nature.”
― Alma Camino

The quote reconnects me with a sense of myself that I’ve felt before. It comes and goes for me. When I feel that connection, it’s almost like I can feel my chakras, all lined up and doing their chakra thing together. Lately, there have been other times that I’ve felt that alignment, the energies coming together. I’m pretty sure that’s not the right words for it, but I know what I mean… maybe you do too?).

You know what else makes me feel that way? Submission. And spankings. There is something about submission and spankings that strips away a lot of crap I carry around, that reduces me to my quintessential self.

It would be nice to think I could walk around like that all the time. But I think life is more like this from Pema Chodron:

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. “

So I can be cozy and secure in my nest, feeling aligned, in sync with myself, maybe even well-spanked. But we don’t get to stay there. Pema Chodron goes on to say:

To live fully is to be always in no-man’s-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again. ”

Of course, I don’t think I do that either. I drag some baggage around with me like a suitcase chained to my ankle, pausing occasionally to sort through it, rearranging a bit before I close it back up again and drag it on. {That’s probably not quite true, might be a bit dramatic, but it feels true.}

Anyhow, after I found that quote, I read a bunch of other quotes from her – Alma Camino. She’s in Goodread’s quotes if you’re interested. I loved so many of them that I wanted to buy her book – only I couldn’t find the name of it. Once I finally did, I still couldn’t find the book anywhere. It looks like she used to have a blog, but it’s private and there’s no way to reach out to ask her if I can be one of the invited readers.

The name of the book is Blessings and Reflections, but maybe it’s out of print. When I checked used books, it wasn’t there either. There are several books titled El Camino del Alma but of course that’s not it. If you ever run across her book, out there in the vast cyberworld, or tucked away in some tiny used book store, let me know!

In the meantime, I will make do with reading the quotes on Goodreads. Here is another one for you.

“May the grace of joy find you often, like the soft glow of dawn touching the edges of your soul. May it arrive unbidden, filling your heart with a lightness that lifts you above the cares of the world. Let joy be the melody that plays in the background of your life, a song that reminds you of the beauty woven into each moment, the sacredness of simply being.”
― Alma Camino