Dec. 14, 2021 - Over this weekend I took a plane trip to Colorado, with a stop over in Chicago. Sadly, the plane was delayed in Vermont, and by the time I got to Chicago, it was too late to catch a connecting flight...so I had to spend four extra hours in the Chicago Airport. I figured I'd set myself up to do a little work online, and found a quiet area to plug in my computer...but the outlet didn't work. I walked around the area and all the outlets had no power. Finally, I found one lone outlet hidden behind a column on the floor that worked. Yay! As I was sitting down on floor to do my work, I noticed a woman doing what I had been doing...looking for power. I went over and told her about "my" outlet, and we could share. She was grateful, plugged in her phone, and then said, "Can you watch my stuff, I need to go to the bathroom." I love that!

When she returned, a Long Island Iced Tea in hand, we sat together on the floor, and she begin to tell me all about her life; a life completely different than my own or anyone I know...she was 23, had 2 kids, hadn't been to college, and was off on her own (leaving her kids with her mom), heading on her 2nd plane flight of her life to live with her boyfriend and his 2 kids in Arizona. Her name was Gabby, she made me feel special, and I totally loved her. She was so open and alive and positive about her future. It was a total delight to meet her.

Without our shared desire for an outlet, we would have never met under "regular" circumstances, but she was absolutely one of the main highlights of my whole trip to Colorado.

It brings up a Sutra #85 from the Radiance Sutras (this is a part of it):

"Toss aside your map of the world,
All your beliefs and constructs,
Dare the wild unknown.

Breath tenderly as
The lover of all beings."

For today's practice, let's open up the vast and unexpected world around us, tossing aside our map of the world.