Cutting the Umbilical Cord (Part I): Travels with Ale 2
I may have mentioned that our world travel adventure started immediately with a crazy adventure: We arrived in Milan for our connection to Spain. Customs noted an issue with Alexandra‘s visa (something about her being a world-renowned international spy!), and immediately sent her back to the United States! As you can imagine, with all the excitement of being on the verge of finally realizing our Sueño Hallucinante, we were devastated by this news. Without any words, we both recouped and recognized that this was the reality, and exactly what the universe called for. So we embraced each other and embraced “what is.“ As Katie Byron says, whenever you fight “what is,“ you lose 100% of the time. Or as James Weldon Johnson more colloquially stated, and the title of the great playwright Vinnette Justine Carol’s 1976 Broadway musical: “Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.“
At the time, I couldn’t think of any reason or purpose for this dream-crushing event, but one week later, I completely get it. The fact is I don’t do well with transitions. For instance, the transitions from high school to college, college to medical school, medical school to residency, and then to faculty, were extremely difficult for me. Well, what I’m doing right now is without question the most monumental transition of my life: I quit medicine- my career, my identity, my raison d’être for most of my life; and then effectively moved out of my ‘hood, my chrysanthemum of 54 years, where I’ve lived since arriving in New York City at the age of six. I went to grammar school on my block, Columbia University Undergrad, and then worked in the ER at St. Luke’s Roosevelt hospital for 12 years (both in the ‘hood). My mother and sister live in adjacent buildings! Yes, I’ve traveled all over the world, but I really never cut the umbilical cord.
Consequently, FEAR raised its ugly head and infused every molecule of my Being. This portended an extremely difficult, and perhaps even traumatic transition. I even warned Ale of turbulent currents ahead however, at least so far, nothing has manifested. I suspect that being alone this past week somehow facilitated the transition. The walks, writing, long bike rides, daily swims in the ocean somehow served to mitigate the trauma of these first steps towards severing the umbilical cord.
There are things that can only happen when in solitude. I don’t know how or why, but today it hit me and I feel different. I am different. Today is my seventh day here in Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain) and I am channeling Pinocchio: “I once had strings, but now I’m free… there are no strings on me!“
For this, I say thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Ale arrives in a few days, and apparently, another kind of trip will begin: The journey of the Spiritual Partnership where we both serve as mirrors for the other, allowing us to see ourselves. I wrote “apparently” because although it appears to be a different trip, it is still the only journey that ever existed: The inner journey. Once this is realized, then life becomes easy. It FLOWS. As the great Shaman, Don Diego said: “Life is so simple, all you have to do is breathe!”
The author was born in Haiti and has lived in New York City for the past 54 years. He is a practicing emergency physician who has dedicated his life to the healing arts and the exploration of Consciousness and creativity. He just self-published his second novel “Love in the Time of Coronavirus: 20/20 in 2020” on Amazon. His first novel was “The Twin Flames, the Master, and the Game,” & is also available on Amazon.
Check out my website: RichardLanoix.com
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