Submerged

Living our lives in a full and deeply textured way has taken up all available space. There has been no room for writing, little room for musing, and almost no room for considering anything other than this panorama of desert landscape, small town microcosm and unfolding relationships.

Marathon enveloped us. For a small town with less than 600 people it has a presence that is much bigger than its physical footprint. And we are not alone in having this experience. The community is full of people from all over the country who have been 'called' to this place. Yesterday at the Thanksgiving table we were joking that the Marathon Motel (where we stay in the RV Park section) should really change its name to Hotel California or the Vortex. So many of us at the table had come for several hours, several days but had ended up here a year later.

So the children and I have been making another home. Even before we arrived here I had a feeling that this would not be a quick in-and-out visit. But the unfolding has been way outside of anything that I could have contemplated. After a couple of days it turned out that there was an organic gardening project in its infancy on the motel grounds and that my particular skills were exactly right for what was needed. And the project has gone from strength to strength. What began as a plan for the almost 10 acre plot has rapidly expanded into a full sustainability plan for the town and the surrounding region. I have been in my element. Thinking about what links to what and how this can work. And for the first time in my life, at the inception of a project, I am working closely with people who are on exactly the same wavelength and for whom I don't have to translate my understanding of the world and the humans who live on it. What bliss!

It has all felt so natural. Have you ever had an experience where it has felt as though you are simply walking an already mapped out path? Where it felt as though the unfolding of events had little to do with you? Where you opened your mouth and words spewed out that you knew were not being generated in your brain? And I don't mean a psychosis with 'voices' in your head. I mean a level of inspiration that is happening so quickly that it is not allowing you to get in the way. That's what this whole thing has felt like. Once I landed here in this little spot on the West Texas map, I have been directed, turned and twirled to circumstances that could not have been foreseen by my rational mind. I feel as though I have known many of these people here for centuries. It is impossible to believe that it has only been weeks and that we know few, if any, details of our personal histories and life experiences.

The more I live my life from a position of surrender - such as what I am describing above with Marathon - the less I become surprised with how things go. Yesterday a large family group arrived to celebrate the weekend at the motel. I had the little piece of 'zing' that I am now familiar with when I know that something is more than just a piece of information. And soon after they arrived it began to show up. I had met several of the family members in completely detached circumstances where none of the connections had been involved. And here they all were, together, for several days, in the same compound where I was now living. When this kind of thing happens I can just sit and wait. And the story begins to unfold and the reasons begin to show themselves. All I need to do is to become increasingly clear that I must stay out of the way. And an entirely new and exciting path begins to reveal itself in my future. I can't wait.

And I'll keep you posted.