Voice of the Spirit

The Healing Power of Music and Mysticism

If my mammogram had been normal, I wouldn’t have found myself in the tiny room with the radiologist that day. As she brought up the round white cloud on the black screen, I sat erect in my chair. Slouching would have been like admitting defeat.

“You have an abnormal spot on your mammogram,” she announced. “We need to do surgery.”

There's a lot of cancer on both sides of my family, so I was scared. I wondered if I might lose my breast or if it would be deformed from having tissue removed.

As I scheduled the surgery, I prayed. I also contacted my friends and asked them to send positive thoughts.

Then something remarkable happened.

I have a friend who practices Sufism. He’s also an incredible professional drummer. We’d lost touch over the years and I’d tried contacting him, but never had any luck.

For the past two weeks, though, I had a feeling I should try reaching him again.

I sent an email and he responded, inviting me to his concert the following night!

After the show, I told him I’d been having some health problems.

“Do you have any friends who can do a healing with you?” he asked.

“No,” I said.

“Would you be open to that kind of thing?”

“I’d be open to just about anything at this point.” I felt a sense of comfort even then.

He introduced me to several people and told them to arrange a healing circle dance with me. A week later, I received an email telling me where and when the dances were held and that Sufi master Shabda Kahn would be making a rare appearance at the next dance.

I went.

There's a Supernatural Force...

…that desperately wants me to tell my story, DANCE OF THE ELECTRIC HUMMINGBIRD.

I’m absolutely positive about this because my post, “Semantics,” dated Oct. 21, 2009, almost didn’t get published, for the same reason I keep working so hard at DANCE OF THE ELECTRIC HUMMINGBIRD. I’m trying to cross all my “t’s” and dot all my “i’s” and bending over backward to get everyone’s approval every step of the way—I’m so afraid of offending anyone.

But I believe our interpretations of the events in our lives and the meaning of those events is something that is strictly personal and comes to us in a way that’s unique to each person’s way of understanding. What’s right for one isn’t necessarily right for someone else. This goes for tastes in food and living conditions as well as spiritual beliefs.

Just when I’d been hesitating to publish “Semantics,” I received an update from the founder of the Northern Colorado Writer’s Association, of which I am a member. Kerrie Flanagan’s blog featured a gifted writer by the name of Laura Resau, who wrote about how shamanism played a major role in a lot of her books. Laura said shamans believe that their power comes from a divine source and this power translates itself into words or stories, much like what writers have to do. She also provided a link to a talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the immensely successful EAT, PRAY, LOVE.

Book Update: A New Endorsement and Other Exciting Things in the Works!

I HAVE FINISHED THE MANUSCRIPT!!!! Yes, I’m shouting. Six years of toil—blood, sweat and tears…

I’ve changed the title of my book from Wings of Rock to: DANCE OF THE ELECTRIC HUMMINGBIRD. (You’ll have to read it to see why I’ve chosen this title.)

This too, is subject to change at any time, as writing is a never-ending process. I’m told publishers often change the title anyway, unless they absolutely love it, so I’m prepared for that.

My editor is now checking the entire manuscript for punctuation and grammar, so this is the final writing stage before submission. She should be finished by the end of next week. After that, hopefully it will only take me a day or two to incorporate the changes.

I have also finished my query letter and am very pleased with it.

The next step is finding an agent. A professional author is giving me a recommendation to someone, so please send positive vibes my way. I have a really good feeling about this; I don’t know why!

I also now have a new endorsement. I’m so excited! Here it is:

"Pat Walker's memoir is a joy. It is Eat, Pray, Love for the common woman -- you know, the vast majority of us who can't travel the world because we're stuck at home, doing laundry and driving kids around. I laughed out loud, but I also discovered that serious transformation can occur when one is open to it. In other words, it gives me hope."

-- Laura Pritchett, winner of PEN/USA Award and Milkweed National Fiction Prize

I’m deeply honored to have this endorsement, as giving people hope is what I’ve worked tirelessly to accomplish with my book. I will put this blurb under the “Praise” tab here on “Voice of the Spirit.” However, please don’t get the impression that my book is for women only—it’s for everyone!

Creating Our Reality

We are each creating our own reality in every moment

with every thought and every feeling.

We are both creator and the created at the same time…

 

 

 

Movie Review: "This Is It"--Michael Jackson

We arrived at the theater early so we could get a good seat. I thought we’d have to wait in line forever. I thought the place would be crammed with fans wearing one white glove, Michael tee shirts and holding “I love Michael” signs.

It wasn’t.

This alone made me sad.

Maybe it’s my age, I thought. Or perhaps it’s where I live—maybe a lot of people have espoused the belief that Michael Jackson was a pedophile.

I’ve posted my feelings about that before, so I won’t go into it here. See my entry of July 1, 2009 if you’re interested.

Whatever the reason, there were only a handful of people in the theater. Too bad for those who didn’t make the effort.

I have one word for this film: SPECTACULAR.

It wasn’t about Michael Jackson’s plastic surgeries, “Neverland” or the allegations brought against him in the past. “This Is It” was about the man’s musical genius. Period.

And he was. He transcended gender. He transcended race. And in this movie, he transcended the ultimate performance.