Today I hiked up Bear Creek Trail that started in the little town of Telluride, Colorado. It was completely uphill the entire way, rocky, majestic, difficult. Just like my life has been for quite some time now. The experience was nothing short of a spiritual quest that I didn’t realize I was on. It took everything I had physically to climb that mountain. The goal I thought was to see the waterfalls coming off the tips of the peaks and it had been raining lately so the power of the water was amazing. I slowly made my way up the steep trail walking.  There was no way to take a bad picture in this beautiful vast space. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. The sound of the roaring stream coming down the mountain beside this trail was divine. It helped me keep focused on the here and now. The loudness quieted my mind. I pressed on.

An hour into the hike appeared a landing with an enormous rock protruding above the area. The vista was amazing and the two mountains coming down on each side formed a V. The sky and the clouds and the mountain peaks in the distance filled the vision further. I took a picture and then crawled up onto the rock and sat down.  The landing below me cleared of others enjoying the majestic view and that’s when it happened.

From a panoramic perspective I realized I was alone in this valley high up from the city, but at the base of two magnificent mountains towering above me. The music in my headphones started to play a timeless sound with a sitar and the power of the moment washed over me like an avalanche. I realized I had been there before and the epiphany of it unfolded before my eyes. A week ago I had a vision and I wrote it down. I am writing a book right now and this vision was a part of my story. Here is what I wrote last week:

I see a massive divide and I am at the bottom. The divide is the human race. Division has reigned for too long and it is now time for the light to break through and touch us all to move forward towards truth and happiness and love. The cliffs are beautiful and they shoot up into the sky with divine purple shadows casting off the jagged edges and peaks. There is a beautiful smell of freshness coming through the divide. Birds. Rushing water. Everything beautiful is starting to fill the cavernous space around me. When love, compassion, and truth fill the void it is felt and seen with every sense. The greatest gift that is then given to us when we accept this Light into our existence ~is knowledge. And with knowledge…comes enlightenment.

Today I received a miraculous affirmation of that vision. I sat at the bottom of that valley looking up. I was hearing the rushing water and the birds. I was feeling the fresh air and drinking in all the good feelings that were coming into that valley. At that moment I was experiencing so much love and peace and understanding that tears of joy, elation, and happiness were streaming down my face completely wetting my cheeks. I completely felt oneness with God and I felt an understanding being placed into my heart. Here is what I heard:

We are all connected and loved by a benevolent God. When we believe and share and show love outwardly~ only then do we feel that love come through us. The divine order of the universe says you must first give in order to receive. And through giving you will find love. This is a basic truth and it is the basis of all acts with good intent. The process starts with loving yourself, and from that point it radiates to your family, friends, neighbors, community, country, and world. Personal experience is connected to the larger universe. We all matter. Loving yourself is where it starts and from there it never ends and it never dies and always moves forward on that continuum to Oneness.

On the way down off that mountain today I had an amazing energy. It felt so good to have that experience, so life affirming, so relevant to my world, and so happy to share it. I have never felt more grounded and solid in my heart as I do today. My heart overflows with Gratitude. Thank you.