The Timeless Connection of Soul-to-Soul/ Final Changes to Realms of Light: A Mystic’s Journal Entries: November 4-14, 2007
Sunday, November 4
An e-mail from my graphics designer, Diana Souza. She leaves Ithaca on Wednesday and we have been trying to wrap up all the loose ends we can before she leaves town. All the major and minor graphics problems we were facing with the publisher seem to be solved; the minor left-over details of Realms of Light have been decided, the ms finished and sent to the publisher and reviewers; we have established plans and work outlines for the Visits With Angels volume and other volumes; the Interviews for Realms of Light are done; and I will miss her when she leaves.
Even mountains of e-mails are not always the same as one conversation face-to-face, in person.
In conversation a week or so ago, Diana had mentioned something during a passing conversation with friends that I thought very beautiful. I asked her to write it up for A Mystic’s Journal:
THE ABIDING CONTINUUM
I'd planned my arrival in Ithaca so that my first night in town would be on a night when my meditation group met. It just felt right for the start of my visit to begin with a meditation with Laurie, who had taught me how to meditate sometime in the early 1980's. For ten years I had I meditated with her group, which I'd been an original member of, once or twice a week. Then, I moved to Texas, and 15 years had passed, punctuated by every variable theme that life had to offer, from the very best to the very worst. The night I arrived back in Ithaca, I had an instinct to arrive at the meditation just a few minutes after it had started, so that Laurie and the others would already be meditating. I don't know why I decided to do this --because usually I would make it a point to be there pretty much on time. Somehow, the idea just "felt" good. As intended, I arrived a few minutes late, and Laurie was already deep in meditation, as were the other people present. Tiptoeing quietly in, I sat down on a cushion without causing any apparent interruption and without any acknowledgment from the other sitters -- and I sank into the meditation. In 15 years, I had probably sat with this group only a half dozen times, but a profound realization dawned on me from deep within the meditation: I realized that this room, this meditation, this moment felt like the one and only place I'd ever been, all those years -- that everything else I'd ever done, every place else I'd ever been, had only been a dream. It seemed like this room, this meditation was the one abiding, pervasive reality -- that all the events, all the gains and losses, all the triumphs and all the tragedies of the previous 25 years since I first sat with this group had been no more impacting than a passing dream. It really felt like this meditation was the only actuality, the only real substance in all those years. I don't know why this seemed like the one steadfast reality throughout all those many-faceted years. But I do know that this feeling was profoundly reassuring and consoling.
-- DS
3 Nov '07
Thursday, November 8
Diana went back to Dallas yesterday morning; e-mails between us have recommenced. I deleted most of the FAQ section from the printed version of Realms of Light. Changed the Appendix to Postludes. Which means the Table of Contents must also change. Mind Body Spirit Magazine sent the review today, for the back cover; e-mailed it to Diana. The entire FAQ section will be put online, on several websites, so that anyone can read them.
The review from Body Mind Spirit magazine was quite good, a promising start:
"By sharing her mystical journeys with us, clairvoyant Laurie Conrad inspires us to open to new possibilities beyond the normal bounds of our five senses. Her prose and poetry is expressed with humility ... from the heart. Comprised of short stories, Realms of Light can be enjoyed in bite size pieces."
My intention in this book is to put some minds and hearts at rest about what happens to those we love - and us - when we "die". The first section of the book is comprised of my own stories, clairvoyant experiences of other realms I have had - and meetings or visits with those I love in other realms. The second section is interviews with others. Some of the messages received by myself and those interviewed are quite touching. The main message is one of love. To read the first chapter, go to: canaryperch.com/diana07.html Click on "Coal Mine" and then on "Designer’’s Journal". As you read the Designer’’s Journal, at the end of the first paragraph, you will see "HERE" in blue. Click on it and the chapter will come up on Adobe. On my computer the pages takes a long time to load, and I minimize Adobe until it is done. This is the only chapter we will post online.
We are also uploading more tracks from my CDs on http://www.Artistopia.com so that people can listen to them and download them if they wish. I decided to add two more songs from the Early Songs CD and several tracks from the Visions CD.
Strangely, it feels as though Diana is still here.
Saturday, November 10
Diana likes the Postludes idea; she will upload the songs. She’s still getting caught up with her life in Dallas, so it might take a bit of time. I will have to proof the changes before we send the manuscript to the publisher; hopefully all will be finished next week.
Wednesday, November 14
Last night I began reproofing Visits With Angels and Other Divine Beings. Have already made some changes. Diana uploaded several tracks of the Early Songs and Visions CDs on Artistopia yesterday - only one song left to upload. E-mails flew back and forth, just as before her visit to Ithaca. Her visit here is beginning to feel like a dream ... A bright spot in life just before the leaves began dropping from the trees. CSMA confirmed the concert of Images for early spring; Myra wrote and chose a weekend she has free & will contact Laura. Then I need to find a violinist & violist. Now that I am a bit back on my feet, I also need to find string players to record the String Quintet ... And contact the Cornell groups again about the Piano Quartet & other pieces still unperformed. I think it was a quartet - now I can’t even remember. I need to contact Robert Spear; if he wants his instruments used on the recording, he will have to find me players. Otherwise I will be forced to record it on traditional instruments.