Not the End of the Story

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending the Unicorn Writers Conference in Portland, Connecticut with my good friend Hali.

 I recently finished writing my second book, (or at least I thought I was done writing it) and was looking for my step in the process. The conference was held at San Clements Castle, a magnificent estate, filled with all kinds of picturesque views and fun statues.

At one point in the day, I decided to take a break from the back to back workshops and go outside (it was relatively pleasant that day) to take a breather and connect with the energy of the castle. The message that I received was a great message and I thought that others might benefit from the words of wisdom from my guides.

Let me preface the message with a little background of my life of late.

I get up at 5am Monday through Friday and go to work at the Post Office. After work, I see clients, I write weddings, sometimes (not as much lately with the increase of clients and classes) I post a blog. As you know I have been working on my second book. I have been teaching several classes at two different locations. Oh yes. And I join couples in marriage. The weekend before this past one I went to the beach to participate in a full moon ceremony.

This past weekend it was a weekend writers conference.

So I sat down on one of the concrete walls to breathe and look around at the beauty of the castle. The air was brisk, but invigorating. The sun warmed my face as I took a deep breath and felt the energy of the castle.

"You know,Joy,"  my Guide began, "this castle was not created to be an event location. Even though it is functioning very well in its current capacity, this was not the original intention of the first owners of this land."

Well, yes, I imagine this is true.

"Sometimes, our original intentions do not turn out to be the end result."

This reminds me of one of the philosophies I learned in  my study of shamanism. Don't be attached to having your plans turn out only one way. If you think that the things you are manifesting can only be realized in one way, then you will find yourself stuck.

 Be willing to surrender your plans to Spirit and allow your vision to be manifested in the best possible way for the good of all concerned.

In my thoughts about the castle, I thought about the original owners of the castle and what visions they must have seen for it when they first decided to build it. I wonder if they realized those visions in their lifetime. Over the years, I wonder how many different things the castle might have been used for. I really didn't do my homework and so didn't know much about the history of the castle: how old it was, who were the original owners, how many times it had changed hands, what different events may have occurred here. But I felt that the Spirit of the castle was content with its present duties as an event location. Many weddings occur here. I am sure there are a multitude of various events that the walls of the castle are privy to. My feeling was that the castle was happy with its present state of affairs. (yes, you skeptics, a castle can be happy.)

Since I began writing my second book, a memoir of my spiritual path and how I got from my "previous" life as a born again Christian to my current life as an intuitive, medium, shamanic practitioner, and sometime animal communicator, the message that life does not turn out exactly the way we plan really hits home. No this was not my original intention. My thoughts or expectations of my weekend at the conference did not pan out exactly as I had envisioned.  But I  have to say that Spirit always knows best. Our best laid out plans cannot hold a candle to all the wonderful things that Spirit and perhaps even our own Highest Self envisions for us.

The other "sub" message that Spirit told me was that it was okay to take breaks. I have a tendency to "make hay while the sun is shining." In other words, work work work as long as the opportunity is there. However, at this moment, as I had ditched a workshop to sit out in the sun in this very captivating courtyard, I knew that we all need times when we just breathe.

 We all need to get away from the hustle and bustle of our lives and sit and look at a water fountain, whether any water is coming out of it or not, or perhaps just sit and gaze at a candle, watch a sunset, or sit with the moon. Spirit said to me as I recited aforementioned saying,

"What, do you think the sun is going to stop shining?"

That's very true! If we have the attitude, "make hay while the sun is shining," then subconsciously we are afraid the sun is going to stop shining. The opportunities are going to mysteriously stop coming our way, Spirit is going to go on vacation and leave us hanging, so we better have some sort of back up plan.

Just for today, think about your goals or your visions of your life. Is your life turning out exactly the way you planned or have there been some detours? Has there been some rerouting? I like another saying that goes something like this,

 "life is what happens while we are busy making other plans."

As we head into the new moon on Sunday, let us think about surrendering all of our best laid out plans to Spirit and to our Highest Self. Let us lay aside any expectations that our life or our plans have to turn out in any specific way. Let us be open to surprises. Let us be open to detours. Let us be open to the notion that the there may just be a surprise ending to our story.

Remember this.

Everything always turns out okay in the end. And if isn't okay, it isn't the end.