All at once well met. Hello, Winnipeg!

This was written two months ago, and held for personal considerations. Let's go back to early November...
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Here I am in Winnipeg, Manitoba, doing my affirmations and energetic field work, hanging with myself, having awesome conversations with taxi drivers, and making a difference in the lives of free-trade shop owners. Holy shit. Stay tuned for the miracle...

I decided to hang out at The Forks today, a relatively new development of shops, a market, an open-air amphitheater, a prairie garden, and several other walks and areas and features that educate a visitor about the history of the land, the region, and the peoples. Almost instantly, it spoke to me. I grew up deeply connected to wild lands, reading about the legends of the Sandy Lake Cree, and there, right before me in an outdoor park, was written Cree. A part of me is at home here.

The amphitheater's stone elements are carved with stories of many cultures' relationships to the night sky, most topped with a metal structure that sights the mentioned stars from the center of the plaza at certain days and times of the year. I learned about the Three Steps of Vishnu, the Mesopotamian Lion and Sickle, the Chinese lovers Niu Lang and Zhi Nu who, banished to opposite sides of the sky, are connected once yearly by a bridge of magpies across the constellation Cygnus. And more.

I've long desired a powerful telescope, so you know that I geeked out.

This, however, came AFTER investigating the market and shops, upon which I met P. She has a shop there, which I was about to walk right past when she made eye contact and said, "Hi!" So I responded in kind and decided to check out her wares.

"What are you reading?" she asked, seeing my latest Terry Pratchett book poking out of my pocket. I praised his skill and cleverness as a writer, and she showed me what she's reading... a book by Eckhart Tolle, a spiritual writer/composer/etc. who's crossed my path, and my Ipod, before.

Thus launched an hour-long conversation about spirituality, relationships, marriage, writing and publishing, websites, energy work, and more. Which was great enough... and here comes the miracle.

I mentioned my affirmations, which I've been led to write myself... three each morning. One of this morning's affirmations was, "I make a difference with everyone I meet." Well, it turns out that P, who has been happily married and entirely faithful for over 25 years, has an admirer... a professional man, younger-than-she, with whom she has felt a deep connection. A heart-connection blending with desire, longing, and chemistry.

And although she has broken off communication with him (he's truly stuck on her even though she's married, and has been trying to entice her onto the slippery slope of "just-friendship"), and though she has never encouraged him, nor done anything other than hug him, she has felt guilty.

"I would never take action," she explained, "because if I did I know I'd hide it, and even if I hid it, my husband would know. And then it would be over, and I LOVE my husband." She is a happily, lovingly, joyfully married woman, and she's felt guilty for even feeling what she has felt for this other man. "How can it be possible?" she asked me.

WELL! Did she ask the right person or what?!

So she talked, I listened, I shared, she inquired, I explained, and she was SOOOO relieved. "I've never told anyone other than my sister about this!" she said.

Monogamy is simply what works for her, her husband, and for their marriage. And somehow, knowing that there are other ways, that she can feel what she feels and still trust herself to make the choices that honor her marriage, and that feeling those feelings does not automatically dishonor her husband, has allowed her to release the guilt. YAHOO! An hour well-spent!

She hopes to see me again before I leave town, though I'm not sure how that will happen. I'm going to help her figure out something technical about her website, and I know that we'll stay in touch. She is too cool, with too much going on, to not follow her adventures with curiosity and enthusiasm.

And so, though it looks like this trip is pushing my finances toward their limit, how can I NOT have faith that I am in the right place at the right time, doing exactly what I'm supposed to do? This adventure has largely been about hearing and following my inner guidance. So far, so great!


ps - All At Once Well Met is the title of an English madrigal by Thomas Weelkes. I sang madrigals in high school, and this title spoke to me as I stood in the clear, chill air of the amphitheater, reflecting on the wonder of "coincidence." :)

M. Makael Newby, 2010 - All Rights Reserved - http://mmakaelnewby.blogspot.com