No Random Occurrences

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From a letter written approximately June 9th

I just hit the two month mark last week, probably longer by the time this gets posted. The last week has been a series of miraculous events, kind people, and fantastic views.

I've been weaving my way up Northern Arizona and Southern Utah, the "Arizona strip" as it is called. I've meandered through the Grand Canyon and the Canyonlands, hitting Bryce Canyon and Escalante and am about to go through Capitol Reef. Bryce Canyon with its mysterious pink and orange hoodoo ampitheater was certainly my favorite. Looking down into the canyon among the bulbous spires and columns I encountered many sinister faces staring back, faces and characters made of stone, animated in the late rays of sunshine. Later I learned that the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon are evil people who Coyote has turned to stone and placed there.

Coming into Bryce Canon, I'd been travelling with a couple from Rhode Island, Steve and Diane, who are riding from San Diego to Virginia. I met them just south of Jacob's Lake, at the base of a nearly 3000 foot climb to an elevation of 8000 feet. It was the first climb of this nature to this altitude that I'd seen, and just as I was beginning the ascent, the road smiled, and I met these two wonderful people, who were in desperate need of water. From my gallon I filled their bottles and we ascended together. At the summit we surmised that there was no way they would have made it on the water they had. As if that wasn't a miraculous enough meeting, timed perfectly, early that morning I had casually mentioned a concern regarding not having a water filter for an upcoming stretch of over 150 miles with zero services. (guess I shouldn't have sent that water filter home to save weight). And the man I was sitting with, Hutch from Alabama, gave me a water filter!

At Jacob's Lake, I was fed, found friendship with a fellow medical student at a campground, and formed quite a profound bond with Steve and Diane. Over the next 4 days we rode together, took a rest day in Kanab, Utah together, and really got to know one another. In Kanob, due to a mix up, they actually let me stay in a motel room they had mistakenly booked. What a blessing!

This is just a small number of the many interactions, places, and occurrences which happen in perfect time, every day, so many that one thing is clear: THESE ARE NOT "RANDOM" OCCURRENCES.

Too many things fell into alignment in perfect order, without an inkling of effort, for chance to be the cause of what took care of us out here, "traveler's luck", though it is not luck. These are the types of things that happen when we relinquish control and allow the universe to guide us through life. This is the same universe, the same spirit, the same force, the same God which created the perfect beauty before us: in the canyons, mountains, desert, the stars and moon, and the melodic rhythm of the crashing surf. Why is it a difficult stretch of the imagination to consider that this same force works through our lives and paints our realities with equal perfection and beauty?

Too much "new-age" mumbo jumbo? Well, that's okay. While you contemplate, analyze and seek to justify controlling as much of your life as possible, because "how could all my needs be satisfied if I don't 'do' anything," consider my two months of sheer bliss, being constantly led by something higher than myself, timing flat tires and rainy days into miraculous experiences where I've met beautiful people and been supported by endless kindness. And, relinquishing control doesn't mean not "doing" anything, but it does necessitate "being open" first. Decisions will inevitably need to be made. However, there is a chaotic, confused voice within my head which makes decisions that cause a lot of stress, then there is an awareness which more or less allows decisions to be made, it accepts a flow which is more or less already happening, replacing fear.

This awareness does two things: causes me to smile, and to say, "thank you". So, I profess that with a smile and a warm heart I have been given the world. This gift of experiencing life, easily, joyfully, and with pure bliss, is already and has always been attainable. Accepting such a gift however may be the most difficult decision any of us ever makes; a paradigm shift always is.

Blessings!

Node - Natty Pilgrim

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Photos

Node, Steve and Diane
Riding into a Utah thunderstorm

Node, Steve, Diane, and Julie
Mount Carmel Junction, Utah

Comments

[Lucile]

That's the blog I'm talking about!
Wow. Everything is in Divine Order. This is the experience I was hoping for you , Node . May you continue to have many more of these and keep writing to let us know all about them!

[Kelly]

Agreed.
I have only recently started to understand this "giving in" to life and giving up control so that the beauty of what is can unfold in a spectacular dance of synchronicities and opportunities. You're right, it's not about doing nothing, it's about relinquishing the fear that causes us to plan every step of our lives and instead to allow ourselves to be guided through a space and time that emphasizes human connection and freedom. I wish you all the best Node!