This Mortal Coil

There have been times in this life I have wondered if my soul/spirit/essential self really knew what she was doing when she chose to put on this "mortal coil" (this physical body, with all its pains, trials, and challenges that go with it). I have experienced my fair share of pain, enough that I have become truly wearied by it.  Then I experience something as remarkable as a 2-hour professional massage (for my birthday) by a wonderfully gifted angel, and shed tears of joy and think to myself: This! This is why we chose to experience a "veil" of flesh--because we are capable of so much joy!  If I/we can remember to carve out the time to experience these moments of joy--to create them-- I have found I am strengthened in more than a physical way--that my spirit gains a sense of coming home, or "home-coming". In other words, being in a state of joy is a feeling of coming home, or becoming ONE.  It's about the Joy.

Also for my birthday, here in this wintry little Wyoming town, we decided to take the trip up to Jackson to see the sights, and maybe a movie. I had no idea we would be driving through Heaven. The road from Pinedale to Jackson is a scenic byway, and now I know why. I thought places like Bondurant only existed in the world of Thomas Kinkade paintings. I didn't have my camera with me, which was a bummer, because it was romantically epic.  I could only find a couple of paintings to give you an idea of what we saw. Cabins and ranches nestled into the mountains and trees, under nearly two feet of snow--with twinkling, glowing Christmas lights--while the sunset backdrop only got better and better.  Then the full moon came out, bathing the snowy hills in light so bright, the trees left shadows. We saw a huge golden eagle, and not one, but TWO bald eagles swooping lazy circles around us. On the way home, we had to stop to let a herd of about 200 elk cross the road in front of us. It was amazing, and created a sense of vismaya--the sanskrit word for "being overwhelmed with wonder".  So yes. This mortal coil can be a heavy and intense burden, but also an incredible way to learn how to create and savor the feeling of joy...which is light....