Imaginary Conversations and Random Thoughts

You can catch up from day one here.

Well day four is the last day. We go til lunch, and then home again. What a bummer. This was a really fun time. What else can I say?

Maybe this would be the time for an overview of the experience. Ok but I need to go back a little further. I’ll try to be brief. I’ve always been very sensitive about the idea of bragging. I just have a strong aversion to coming off as if I think I’m some big deal. This is one of the reasons I don’t talk a lot. And why I talk about myself even less. So please forgive this paragraph. I never told anyone at work I got married. Announcing it would make me a show off and attention hog. So it was a few weeks maybe before someone noticed the ring. And a fuss was made, which I endured. I think I mentioned before that I figured a year was a good interval. This conference was first time I saw my coworkers since I took it off. No one said anything. But I’m not sure if they didn’t notice, or they did and didn’t want to bring it up. Eh. Same difference.

On the long drive back to the hermitage, I had a really strange feeling like this was the end of a certain chapter of my life. Almost like I was reborn out of the misery of that hangover. Maybe certain things should be left behind and I should open myself to a new way of living. I know this sounds weird and spacey, but it all sort of fits with the whole Call and Return cycle, and with the Invisible Author idea as well. I may have mentioned this before; try looking here. Or I could give you a brief recap.

Call and Return can be found in all sorts of lit and mythology. You go out from your normal life, have adventures, gain insight, and return to your old life as a new and elevated person. Wow that was quick. I didn’t think I could do it.

When you’re old, looking back over your life, it is possible to notice things that may not have seemed important at the time, but actually ended up being key turning points, or plot twists, in your life. You might notice that your life was like an intricately plotted novel. As far as you’re concerned, you life just happened to you. So who wrote the novel? The Invisible Author. Hmmm. Not quite as brief.

Who knows? It just seemed like for a moment I had a chance to peek behind the curtains and see the wizard in action. Exhibit A: I’m going to start wearing ties to work. Be more professional. I’m going to attend the social events I always avoided in the past. I shall be less anti-social. And other stuff too. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully my experience will be better than Al’s in this episode of Married With Children.

On part two of day one, I mentioned I had a little breakthrough. I’ll post that in a few minutes.