Traveling Tracy

Stalker's Christmas Miracle 2010

2010-12-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

As I sit here tonight, I am starring out my bedroom window, mesmerized by the Christmas candles and lost for words. The blessings that I have received over this past week are hard to put down on paper. And so I ponder, how do I even begin to articulate what I have experienced?!

They aren’t the typical “Christmas” blessings that I have experienced in the past, such as, the stereo that I wanted, the cool new workout gear, the latest lightest backpacking stove, tent or sleeping bag, the great Holiday food or the big family gathering. This year was different.

Christmas Eve Day
At 11:11 am I drove up over “the switchbacks” and into Estes Park, Colorado. The switchbacks are a section of road on County Route 34 that to be perfectly honest, is lethal. You drive up four, extremely sharp and steep, u-turn curves; climbing or dropping several hundred feet. The locals in Glen Haven, a teeny tiny mountain town just past the switchbacks, have a multitude of stories about this infamous section of road. I sat in the local Trading Post one afternoon this past September, and heard story after story from them. Most of which involved tourists; traumatized tourists and their reactions to the switchbacks!

From my standpoint every time I reach the top of these things, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I grunt and twist and spin with my little car the entire way up, you can picture it! You’ve all done the lean left or lean right with your vehicle. I know you have! And on this day, not only was I twisting and spinning, but I was also singing at the top of my lungs. I had the song “Halo” by Beyonce absolutely blasting, and I was feeling the power of the music in every cell of my body.

So up I spun around the last curve, while belting, “I can feel your halo, halo, halo…..” And as I broke out into the snow capped Rocky Mountains, I looked up to the Sun and a huge full circle rainbow was encompassing it. There was a halo was around the Sun… How perfect!

It was 11:11, Halo was on the radio and a halo was around the sun that took up nearly a quarter of the sky. I was so excited! I have many stories about the halo around the sun. The first book that I write will be based on my stories of the full circle rainbow, how it has guided my Soul’s journey and what it means for the future of the Mother Earth. Any ways, this infused me with an energy that was out of this world, and so off I drove into town, car dancing as if I was filming a new music video for Beyonce’s Halo. J

When I got to Lake Estes, I laced up my running shoes, turned on my iPod and took off like a spaceship in my silver bullet sunglasses and bright florescent yellow jacket. The full circle rainbow remained around the sun, as I made my way around the Lake, and I was flying high. I say I was running, but actually, I was twirling and skipping and running backwards and shuffling and pretending to be an airplane…. I was just playing really, and of course, lightening up the others on the path with my twirls. J

I mean, you tell me; if you saw a woman dressed in black tights, black gloves, black hat, silver bullet glasses and a florescent yellow jacket skipping, running, singing and twirling…. Wouldn’t that put a smile on your face??!

The Rock
The path around Lake Estes is about 4-5 miles in length, and I have run this thing hundreds of times. It is the flattest place to run up in these mountains, so hence, I’m a frequent visitor! On the North side of the Lake there is a big huge rock that sticks out into the water. Every time I run around the lake I stop, climb up the rock and do Yoga on top of it.

From the top of the rock you look off into the water, then directly at Twin Sisters Peak to the South. Twin Sisters is a mountain that has much significance to me, and has since I was a small child. In the middle of the day, often times, the Sun sits right over Twin Sisters Peak. It is breathtaking and gorgeous. When I stand up on top of this rock and gaze into the water, mountains and sun; it’s as if the rest of the World disappears. It’s very powerful.

So, for four months this year, every time I’ve stopped and done Yoga on this rock, I have envisioned a full circle rainbow forming around the Sun in front of me. I saw it. I imagined it and I felt the power of it; now here I am on Christmas Eve day, making my way around the Lake and running underneath the halo. How perfect!

Back to the Run
As I rounded a bend in the trail, I sprinted towards this huge rock and a surge of energy went streaming through my body. I could hardly wait to get up there. I knew it was going to be extremely special. I mean, I had been anticipating this for months and here I was!

As I slowed down and began to climb up the rock, there was a break in songs on my iPod. The momentary silence sparked curiosity within. “What was going to be next???”

Then the first note started to play, as I reached the top of the rock and stood there facing the sun with my arms stretched to the skies. And I heard,

“There's a place in Your Heart,
And I Know That It Is Love,
And This Place Could
Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow…..”

Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World” began to play as I stood there, arms stretched to the sky and tears of joy rolling down my face. The Sun was directly over Twin Sisters Peak, and the full circle Rainbow; the halo, surrounded the mountain in perfect symmetry. Emotions ran deep within my Soul, and feelings of gratitude filled my heart.

Then right when I didn’t think it could get any more magical…. a HUGE Bald Eagle (who is my Spirit guide) flew in over my head; catching a thermal and soaring up into the center of the circle, into the sun and over the summit of Twin Sisters Peak.

My jaw dropped, a smile filled my face from ear to ear, and yet again, I was completely humbled by the Great Spirit. I had envisioned the Rainbow, but this blew away any and all of my expectations…..

And so it is…. Stalker’s Christmas Miracle 2010.

Love to you all this Holiday Season!
xoxo
Tracy

City of Dreams

2010-12-04T22:13:00.000-08:00

On December 3-5th last year, 2009, I went to the conference in downtown Seattle. The conference was all about learning how to become an entrepreneur and running small businesses. After being completely overwhelmed because of the intensity of the event; on the third night rather than doing my "homework" like a good girl, and sticking around with the crowd, I headed outside and into the streets of downtown Seattle. It was a cold brisk night, but the breeze felt good, as I meandered aimlessly, looking for a bite to eat.

Downtown Seattle

After circling several blocks, I came to a small sign that said, "Vietnamese Food" and it pointed down a set of stairs. Taking a deep breath, I thought to myself, "Well I'll just go down and check this place out. If I like the energy and environment cool; if I don't, I'll move on."

A statue of the Ancient Eastern Goddess, Quan Yin, greeted me at the bottom of the stairs, and the pictures of the menu items that aligned the wall actually looked fantastic. And let's be honest…that is very rare!

As I walked into the restaurant, soft Asian music was playing ever so gently in the background and there were only two other people there.

"Perfect," I thought, “I'll be able to have a quiet evening to myself.”

The host greeted me with a quaint smile, respect and gentle manor; I love this about the Asian culture. Immediately, it was like I was transported back to Southeast Asia. And the memories of my travels to this part of the World began to spring up from within; flooding my mind.

While in this deep gaze, the waiter looked at me and asked if I would like anything to drink. I stumbled back to consciousness, as my energy had temporarily gone to the other side of the World, "Um, yes, yes," I replied, "I would like a cup of hot tea and a glass of water, please."

As the waiter walked away from my table; I leaned back in my chair and scenes of floating down the Mekong River in a slow boat began playing in my mind, as if I was watching an old film strip. As the film strip continued; strong feelings of being connected with the deepest parts of my Soul, while I was on that river started to come back.

Southeast Asia

In 2007, I took a 4-week backpacking trip through Northern Thailand and Laos. At the time I was working as a Personal Trainer in Columbia, Maryland. I was on a fast track to burnout with the schedule I was holding, the hours I was working and the energy that I was expending. But I was doing what I thought was the "right thing to do." I wanted to have money. I wanted to have stuff. I wanted to be "successful," which to me at the time meant work your ass off 24-7. So this is what I was doing, and parts of it where serving me and parts were not.

As I sat on this slow boat in August of 2007; floating down the Mekong River, perched on a board that was 6" wide with 100 lb rice bags at my feet; I was comfortably uncomfortable. It probably would have been a little easier on my bum had I not rode an elephant bare back through the jungle the day before. However, I had, and I had also learned a lesson.

The lesson being this - small elephants have vertebrae the size of basketballs, yet sharply pointed on top. And given three hours of sliding back and forth over basketball sized pointy vertebrae through the jungles of Northern Thailand; well, let's just say, I didn't think my ass would ever be the same again!

So my suggestion to other travelers desiring to ride elephants..........go ahead and ride on a wooden seat. Your ass will be thankful!

Back on the Boat

So in my state of comfortably, uncomfortable on the slow boat; I sat listening to sappy music and starring off into the green rolling hills of Northern Laos. After several hours of this trance like state; tears began to fill my eyes.

Tears of joy; tears of gratitude; tears of longing for this experience; longing for these feelings of freedom and growth within my Soul; longing to slow down and breathe; longing to be present in the given moment.

It had been four years, since I had traveled overseas. And while keeping myself more than busy during those four years, and slamming every hour of my schedule with some kind of appointment. I hadn't realized how deeply I had been missing this experience; this feeling; this freedom from within. In this moment of profound realization and gratitude; I made a promise to myself, and that promise was to take an overseas trip every year for at least the next 5 years in a row.

Back to Seattle

As the waiter brought over my cup of hot tea and glass of water, once again my eyes filled with tears; tears of gratitude; tears of frustration; tears of joy; tears of uncertainty. I was a wellspring of emotion on this cold December night in Seattle.

I smiled at the waiter, thanked him and gave him my order. When he walked away; I poured my tea into my little cup and began to sip gently the warm, soothing Asian black tea. Once again, I leaned back in my chair, breathed deeply and thought to myself, "This is what life is all about."

Emotions began radiating through my body, like pulsating ocean waves against the sand. The same feeling of calm freedom that came up from within me on the slow boat was now coming up from within me, as I sat in this little hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Seattle.

In this moment, it felt as if time stopped and an Angel grabbed my shoulders from behind and said to me in a deep, calm voice, "This is who you are Tracy; accept it. You are a Spiritual student and teacher, and this experience of growth and freedom within your Soul is what you crave. Accept it. It is time. And you are to go back to Asia and go to India, Nepal, Tibet, Vietnam and Indonesia next year, and then you are to go to Egypt the following year."

Once again, finding myself comfortably uncomfortable, a level of inner peace came over me like I had never experienced before. This was my Truth, and although it was not what I expected to experience at this event. It was the information that I received, and it struck my Soul like nothing had ever done before.

City of Dreams
So, here I am tonight on December 4, 2010 typing this post and starting my Blog back up. What a profound and magical year it has been! And as I lay here typing; I’m back in Port Townsend, WA, which is known as The City of Dreams. I am actually house sitting for a woman that I have never met... I love it! The most amazing people live out here. And I am planning my trip to Southeast Asia, India and Nepal. I have no idea how all of this will come together. But I know that I am going. So when I return to Colorado; I am selling everything I own, buying a one-way ticket to the Orient, trusting the Universe for my provision and I'm traveling the World….. It is time!

And, so, I ask you this…. What do you need to accept about yourself? What is your Truth? What is it that makes your heart and Soul overflow with joy? What brings forth light into your life?

For me it is looking into the eyes of the people as I travel the World. It is sharing a smile with those that I pass by on the streets. It’s telling stories. It’s laughing. It’s holding another in my arms. It’s giving children hope. It’s spreading light and love. It’s adventure. It’s seeing and feeling a Soul connection with the Earth, the people, the animals and thyself. It’s knowing, understanding and appreciating the inter connectedness of all that exists.

xxoo
Tracy