Non-Judgement Day is Near

Last night I had dinner with David and Charisse, a lovely couple who were part of my group in Brazil. It was so wonderful to see them and bask in the glow and flow of each others spiritual progress. Although all of us on the trip are in touch through email and facebook (yes I bit the bullet and finally went on facebook!) I didn't realize how much I missed physically being with my new spiritual partners in crime (okay not crime, but you get the gist!). There is sort of an assumed and immediate intimacy that is created when you share this type of wild, otherworldly experience. Kind of like the survivors of a plane crash but in a positive way! You start speaking in shorthand about your experiences and intuitively "get" what the other is going through.

In our group there was absolutely no gossip. No really! Even after 2 weeks! We all accepted one another totally and completely. Everyone was there for a reason: to grow spiritually, heal physically, mend emotionally or all of the above. There was a greater good to our group -- a power way too important to be maligned by pettiness of any kind. The backbiting, sniping, judgement etc. that you might think would be present in a group (think teen tour or camp bunk) scenario just didn't enter into our daily lives. I was very aware of this while I was there because every time my head started to go to the dark side of gossip (a bad habit left over from junior high)I stopped the thought and moved on. I realized my ugly thoughts stemmed from the judgement of someone being different from me. There was no "Can you believe she's wearing THAT white shirt to current room???" or "Did you see the way so and so brown nosed J of G in spiritual surgery today?" We all just did our own thing, accepted each other's fabulousness and limitations and doled out the love and support for each other.

Last week my pole dancing travel friend Wendy (remember her?) sent me a Valentine's Day card signed by her and her 2 pet rats (reread if you feel the need). For a moment I went to: Oh my god she's such a kook. Then I went to: she's so kooky I absolutely love her! So here I am, intimate and loving with people I would never normally meet much less feel close to. I don't know if the feeling will last but I suspect it will. I have become keenly aware of my knee-jerk reactions of judgment of others and consciously (the key word here!)focusing on acceptance. Can you imagine if we all did???
xxooo