THIS IS MY LIFE
Monday, 6/11/2001
Copyright (c) 2001, Michael Dickerson. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction or quotation is strictly prohibited without
permission.

Hi, people (I�m assuming there aren�t any animals, plants, or rocks reading this. Am I wrong?) ~

Speaking of animals that read, Koko, the gorilla, can apparently read a little, but I don�t think she�s on the distribution list for my letters. Maybe she reads them at Delphi or Blogspot. Who knows? And, speaking of Koko, I�d like to meet Penny Patterson some day. She�s Koko�s �mom� and the woman who taught her to communicate through sign language and then via computer with a gorilla-strength keyboard. Do you know that Koko holds chats on the internet? Penny � Dr. Francine Patterson, more formally � is one of those women I have a crush-from-a-distance on. I can�t imagine what she�s like now. All I know about her is from the early �70s when she was doing her early work with Koko. Obviously she was quite a bit younger then (as was I � probably you, too). I missed my opportunity then. She was a grad student at Stanford (Palo Alto) when I was a grad student at Starr King in Berkeley. And I did an internship in a church not far from Stanford (in San Mateo). Come to think of it, I also went to a lecture by Everett Shostrom at Stanford. I wonder if she and I crossed paths, and I didn�t even know who she was. This sounds like the beginnings of a plot for a movie.

One of my paths not taken was attending Stanford, either as an undergrad or as a grad student. I recall looking at the catalogs. How different my life might have been had I done that. If I had gone as an undergrad, I would have been near San Francisco for the Summer of Love and the hippie happenings (which ultimately played a role in my choosing later to go to Starr King instead of to Harvard, where I had also been accepted; there�s the answer to a trivia question: who do you know who turned down Harvard? That�s also another of my paths not taken.). There�s another of my �connections� with Nance Lopez, the woman who was sort of my conduit for my first messages about Santa Fe. She went to Stanford. Have I ever told the story about my first inklings toward Santa Fe and the role that Nance played in them? Maybe I�ll tell it sometime soon.

I�ve clearly experienced a shift in energy from my normal life to preparing to go. First I need to move from Diana�s house, since she�s returning to town from paradise (also known as Hawaii). And then in about 75 days (okay, it�s 77 or 78 days, but who�s counting?), I�ll be heading off to Santa Fe. Sorting and packing has become a big part of my life. Have you ever tried to get everything you own down to 2 carloads? Funny. 25 years ago I dated a woman whose ideal was to be able to pack everything she owned into her car. Now here I am getting myself down to just twice that.

I wonder where she is now and what she�s doing. Last I heard she was teaching social work at Yale and living in New York City. Is that possible? Are they close enough together? Where is Yale? I can�t remember. If any of you knows anything about Diane Stromme Gibson (don�t know for sure she�s using either of those last names now), let me know. Okay? I guess I could do an internet search for her, couldn�t I?

As of my last writing, I was living in a lot of questions about my near future. Diana was to be home June 16, and I didn�t know where I�d be after that (except for June 20-24 at a job). But I just trusted that everything would work out. I�m doing a lot of that lately. I�m trusting Spirit to guide me and to provide whatever will support me in fulfilling my life�s mission. And it seems to be working.

So, first I got the job in Vista, CA (near San Diego), that some of you already know about. For the sake of those of you who don�t, it�s a remarkable story. A woman who I've house and petsat for previously (prior to her moving to California from the Puget Sound) is flying me down there to take care of her pets and home while she's out of town (June 24-July 5). I'll have use of her car, too. There are several people I�ll be seeing while I�m down there, and my biggest intention is to go to the San Diego Zoo, which I�ve never seen and have always wanted to.

Okay, synchronicity report: A short time before I received the call about the job in Vista, I saw the San Diego Zoo on TV and thought about wanting to go there. Pretty interesting, huh?

So, that left me needing a place to stay between when Diana got home on the 16th and when I started my next job on the 20th. But, I had a strong sense that I didn�t need to be concerned about it.

Then a few days ago, Diana called. She�s had a change of plans and will be coming home on the 19th instead of the 16th. So, there you have it. I also have a job tentatively lined up for most of July starting the day after I return from California, but I don�t know yet if it�s live-in or not. We shall see.

I�m getting tired of living like a vagabond, though. When I get to Santa Fe, I�m going to find a home to settle into � even if I do keep doing housesitting and petsitting. I think I will have gotten whatever value there is from living totally on faith by then. And, yes, I know that�s my ego talking. I�ll see what Spirit has in store for me. If I�m supposed to keep living as a vagabond, I will. I�ll just keep surrendering to whatever spiritual direction I receive.

I had another of my wonderfully productive lunch/conversations with Ginny last week. She�s as fascinated about my observations about cheerleader types as I am � maybe more so, in fact. She suggested that the syndrome of characteristics I�ve described could also be thought of as expressing a lot of free childlike energy. Yes. She�s right. She also pointed out that it's often the youngest child in the family who exhibits that energy. Yes, true. But then I begin to think of exceptions to that rule: Barbara is a middle; Tammi is an only/oldest (of half sibs who are more than 5 years younger) . . . I think maybe there�s a correlation, though. Probably youngest kids are more likely to express that energy.

We also talked about how some men also express it. (It�s just that I�m just not attracted to them, so I don�t focus on them.) Think of Cuba Gooding, Jr., accepting his Academy Award. Think of Roberto Bengini accepting his Academy Award � or just about any time. Think of Mel Brooks accepting his Tony Awards. Back to women: Think of Julia Roberts accepting her Academy Award. On the other hand, think of James Cameron accepting his Academy Award. He tried to do it, and it just didn�t come off as real.

I wonder if Penny Patterson is a youngest child. Something tells me that she�s either an oldest or an only. Well, not just something; it�s her level of accomplishment, which is characteristic of oldests and onlies. Her taking on a gorilla as a long-term pseudo-child, though, suggests an oldest and not an only. So, I�d bet on her being an oldest. Anyone want to bet on it?

Last week I was out walking a couple of Newfoundlands that I sometimes take care of. What a pair! (Dogs also often have that energy that I�m talking about, by the way. That�s it! I like women who wag their tails and jump up and down when they see me.) I usually walk the boys at the nearby middle school. On this particular day there were a bunch of kids outside for their phys. ed. class. One pretty, but non-ordinary, young woman of about 14 (imagine a leather studded bracelet like a dog collar and go from there) came over and asked me if she could pet the dogs. I gave her my standard disclaimer, �They�ll slobber all over you� (a particular trait of Newfies). Well, she went for it with gusto (cheerleader/childlike energy). Then, as I started to walk on, she said to me, �Thanks, that made my day.� Given the way she said it, I don�t think she was saying it lightly. We never know what will make a difference, do we?

Time to stop, but, before I go, I just have one thing to point out: The Mariners rock. Will they have 4 starters on the All-Star Team? We shall see. And isn�t there something odd about them doing so incredibly well in the year that I�m leaving Seattle, after my having been a fan for years and years of dismal or disappointing teams?

May you find within you and express the childlike, vivacious, passionate energy I�ve described.

Namaste,
Michael

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