Voice of the Spirit

Similar to a Near-Death Experience?

It’s Eastertime. This morning MSN had teasers online for articles dealing with the resurrection of Jesus which of course, begs the questions of reincarnation, the existence of heaven, and people’s accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs). The MSN article can be found here: NDEs.

As I read this, I realized that what happened to me during Sammy Hagar’s concert in 2003 and in subsequent experiences since that time, were similar to what many people describe in their NDEs. (I explore this briefly in my book, DANCE OF THE ELECTRIC HUMMINGBIRD.) I wonder why our encounters appear to have so much in common.

During my experience, I was engulfed in an intense light and literally became part of a tremendous, all-encompassing love. I knew instantly, that I was in the presence of the Ultimate Truth. I also saw ethereal beings of light on more than one occasion.

Perhaps I was put into that same dimension of consciousness that people describe when experiencing an NDE, that realm from which everything springs forth—every possibility, be it the formation of someone’s (anyone’s) thought, the inception of whatever it takes for a blade of grass to decide it’s time to poke through the soil and start living again after a long winter, or the fact that I am here at my desk typing these words on my computer.

I entered that realm of Source—the Divine Source of everything, and was reborn—into an understanding of what life is supposed to be. I think God gives us clues of this everyday; all we have to do is look around us: a caterpillar builds a cocoon, later to emerge as a butterfly, and autumn ultimately gives way to spring.

Confucius said: “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

Happy Spring!

Possibilities

Pouring myself a cup of coffee, I head upstairs to my computer to wrap up the final edits on DANCE OF THE ELECTRIC HUMMINGBIRD. But as I glance at the pages before me, my little notes scribbled in the margins, I pause. It’s almost done.

It’s also New Year’s Eve and a small voice in my heart is telling me that it’s more important to post on my blog than to work on my book, so here goes:

There’s something about the prospect of a new year that fills me with hope. Its possibilities are endless.

Lastnight I met with a friend I hadn’t seen in years. She asked me to explain what my book was about. I did my best to condense six years into a two-hour conversation. I thought I was simply recanting the story, but afterward, she hugged me. With a new light in her eyes, she told me that she was excited because my story had caused her to think about her own life. For years, she’d been feeling restless and couldn’t figure out why. She kept getting the idea that she was meant to do something important for the world, and yet, something kept stopping her.

After hearing about what had happened to me, she said that she now sees the importance of listening to her inner self and pursuing that which calls her, even though she still isn’t quite sure where it will take her. But now she is inspired to take that first step on her path! By my simply telling her what my book was about? I wondered. Wow.

To say I am humbled is a gross understatement.

She’s not the first to tell me this. After hearing about my experience, people have often told me the same thing, and I almost hate to say this out loud, but maybe this story is magic. It certainly has been for me.

I can’t wait to share it with the rest of you! Stay tuned; it won’t be long now. I have a strong feeling that 2010 will be the year.

In the meantime, keep believing in yourself. Use the new year, with its limitless scope of possibilities, to cultivate and nurture your dreams. You already have all the answers. You just need to give yourself permission to hear them within yourself.

Wishing you a blessed and happy 2010.

--Baja Rock Pat

Believe

“At one time most of my friends could hear the bell,

but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them…

Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me

as it does for all who truly believe.”

 

--The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

 

 

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!

Excerpt from "Dance of the Electric Hummingbird" by Patricia Walker

From Chapter 28—One Foot on the Path, Body and Mind to Follow:

I want to be fully immersed in this moment, to experience all of my life, attach myself fully to all my emotions, feelings and experiences. I want to let them show to the world without apologies, to share this love and joy openly and freely, not keep them quietly to myself and be disciplined. I don’t want to speak softly or live beneath diffused lighting and muted colors. I’m tired of beige.

I want to scream at the top of my lungs, laugh out loud, experience vibrant red, yellow, orange, purple. I want to dance and make noise, let it all out of me no matter how long it takes. I don’t want to feel holy and reserved. I want to grab ahold of the tail of the tiger, feel his tight muscles moving beneath his skin, white fangs flashing as he thrashes and twists trying to devour me. I want to hold onto him with every ounce of my being for as long as I can before I release him to the universe, or he consumes me, then watch the effect float away like the text of a Star Wars film.

Semantics

The other day, a man I’d never met before asked me what my book was about.

“It’s supernatural; it’s spiritual—about a mystical experience I had in the middle of a concert that changed my life. It also involves a famous rock star…” I started to say.

As I spoke, I noticed that the man, an older gentleman dressed in a biker’s vest with the word “VET” sewn onto it, was attempting to disguise the look of disappointment spreading across his face.

“Supernatural is different than spiritual,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and backing off a bit.

“No, I had an out of body experience…” I continued, and this time as I tried to explain it to him, I used the word “God.”

His eyes lit up and he moved closer. “God isn’t supernatural; God is natural. He is everything.”

“Oh yes! It’s everything!” I grinned, feeling joy moving into all my internal organs.

The man went on to tell me that he too, had had an out of body experience. “The Holy Spirit came to me as I lay dying in a hospital bed.”

“How did you know it was the Holy Spirit?” I asked him. “Did you see it?”

He gestured an arc around himself. “No, I felt it all around me.”

 

Cabo's Mystical Beauty

My husband and I returned home last night after 12 days in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I’m sitting here at my kitchen table, which is loaded with the Halloween motif our son put up while we were gone, an empty bottle of tequila given to me by Sammy Hagar at one of his concerts (it was half full when he gave it to me), my digital camera and camera cards, a bottle of cipro antibiotic (a must for a trip to Mexico), a colorful, hand-painted fish mobile I’d purchased at one of the shops in Cabo and a pile of junk mail and bills that’s still too intimidating to tackle. Oh, and the decorative candle in the centerpiece of my table has been replaced with one that looks like a bleeding skull.

I’m still trying to process everything that took place over the past few weeks. It rained most of the time we were in Mexico—rained in Cabo! So I didn’t get much of a tan. But when the sun came out, it was marvelous. On our last day, yesterday, I got up early to watch the sun rise over the Sea of Cortez and the rocks of Land’s End. My photos don’t do it justice.

The sun was hot pink as it lifted out of the water and the higher it rose, the hotter it got until it drew beads of sweat from my skin. There were two cruise ships in the bay and hundreds of fishing boats heading out to sea, something that hadn’t taken place for several days due to Tropical Storm Patricia—how ironic is that name?

But yesterday morning Cabo was back to her normal, splendid self—hot, humid and sunny. It seems so dark here in Colorado, but at least it's not snowing.

As I get back into the swing of my old life, I will tackle the task of finishing revisions of my book and keep you posted on its progress. I’m almost finished. I will also write more about Cabo and Sammy Hagar’s concerts while we were down there (my husband and I were fortunate to be able to acquire tickets to all five shows), and I’ll post a few pics.

Besides Cabo’s alluring beauty, I did have several moments during this trip that I consider somewhat mystical—interesting at least. One of those moments was when a woman sat next to me on the plane from Phoenix to Denver and the two of us hit it off as if we’d known each other before. Maybe we have—she told me that she owns a metaphysical bookstore in California. It never ceases to amaze me where the writing of my book “Wings of Rock” seems to be taking me.

For right now though, I have about 50 loads of laundry to catch up on. Stay tuned…

Excerpt from "Dance of the Electric Humminbird" by Patricia Walker

Being intoxicated with art, or music,

emotions or ideas

is the gateway to the world of spirit,

to God and other dimensions

where the voice of the soul

speaks…