When we last left off, I described the crash and burn of where I was at, career-wise. Thank God I’d heard somewhere that people in this day and age change careers an average of seven times within their lifetime. That idea brought some comfort…
…though I was still understandably confused. Countless hours that spanned across seven years of working towards one goal was nothing to shrug off just because I was uncomfortable. Not to mention the expensive graduate program that had also required intense study and a daily hit-the-ground-running mentality for nearly two years. My head, my parents, many friends (though not all) encouraged me to continue the teaching route. After all, why take a detour when everything I’d invested in for years pointed in the direction of continuing to teach?
This is where intuition came in and with it, enough past experience for me to know that that still, small and quiet voice inside was the one to listen to. In the midst of all the external noise (advice from my nearest and dearest; all the “shoulds” swimming around out there about dedication, perseverance, commitment; the allure of security), as well as all the chatter inside my own head, it seemed impossible to find a new direction, if one even existed.
Looking back on that period now, I’m grateful that, though I couldn’t see what lie ahead, there was indeed a path unfolding.
Smack dab in the middle of the grad program, while I tried balancing the demands of school and work with spirituality and calm, I went to a spiritual fair in Peoria. For $20, visitors cruised around the metaphysical gift shop, sat in on talks ranging from auras to law of attraction, and chose a service off a menu sampler. Much like choosing the most appealing appetizer at a new restaurant, I picked the one that sounded the most intriguing: a 15-minute Reiki session.
I’d heard of Reiki, mainly in Hawaii: two good friends had experiences with this healing art; one friend was actually a Reiki master.
I remember the adorable dog who “lived” at the spiritual gift shop, how his sad eyes followed mine, his tail flapping against his silky emerald India-print dog bed, as I entered the hallway leading to the Reiki room. Inside, a softly lit room displayed a massage table swaddled in a lavender sheet with splashes of artistry on the walls and in the room corners: little Buddhas; crystals large and small and multicolored; and a stunning array of crystals and seashells arranged in a circular pattern under the table.
New Age music wafted from the stereo as I settled onto the massage table, ready for my tune-up. I listened and let my body sink into the bed, closed my eyes, and let my mind drift for a bit.
Fifteen minutes later, I arose from the bed feeling crackling energy from my head to my feet. The energy radiated from my body as well; it was in every molecule in the atmosphere, it seemed.
The Reiki practitioner asked how I felt. My eyes were big. I wasn’t sure what had just happened. “Are there.. magnets or something under the bed?” I asked her, not sure how to explain how I felt. “I feel … lit up, somehow.”
She smiled, shook her head, and pointed underneath the table. “You’re feeling the energy from the crystals under the bed. And the energetic healing you just experienced. You’re feeling Reiki.” She smiled again.
As my mind swirled with a repeating question (something along the lines of “What the what?!!), I left the spiritual fair, steadying myself by gripping my steering wheel at the proper 10-and-2 positions they taught us in drivers ed. I sat inside the car for a few minutes, utterly alive, still not quite understanding what Reiki was all about, but knowing that whatever had just happened, I wanted to find out more.
I went home feeling the glow, which led to an impromptu, self-invented feng shui rearrangement of my apartment. I had energy beyond anything I’d experienced before.
The lift of my spirits and expansion of my brain didn’t end that night. For days, weeks, afterward, I felt wide awake in a new and as-yet-unexplored way… which led to me diving right into a metaphysical journey I never could have thought up on my own…
To be continued…
Board view with Reiki Symbols (Photo credit: dragonoak)
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