Extending towards Enlightenment

I'm extending my stay in Minnesota to complete the packing for Mom and Dad. I'll be back in Maryland on Friday morning.

Over the past few days, we have accomplished an unbelievable amount: clearing 30 bags of books, going through hundreds of pictures, helping my parents to let go of the acquisitions of a lifetime. We still hundreds of outfits to go through, hundreds of small decisions that make this massive job a series of little ones.

I saw my cousin Suzanne Krupp again for lunch yesterday at a new restaurant in the West End of St. Louis Park (a mini-artificial downtown) called Crave. It's really got great food and a yuppie/artsy vibe. With her was my friend and student Tunie Munson-Benson. It was great to connect and have a bit of an escape. Last night, I dined at YUM!, a restaurant near my parents' house with my other student Pam Dehkes. We talked about her developments with Reiki since her SSR training last April.

I'm realizing how many things I have to learn from my family. Not just my parents with whom I have worked emotionally for many years, but my siblings as well. I still have to look at old anger that holds me to the past that comes to the surface at the oddest of times. I have visited that emotion more times than I really want to count which keeps me humble whenever I might think that I have reached the destination of Enlightenment Station on the Reiki journey. But being here makes me see why Buddhist monks continued to do the day-to-day stuff while they meditated towards enlightenment: it keeps you aware of the Earth and its lessons for you.