All shook up!
It was California, a Catholic retreat center, on a hill overlooking Torrance .
At night, the city below looked like a golden pool. Although it was an illusion created by the many streetlights and the fog in the valley, the power of its presence stimulated the sense of being in a wonderland, as in Alice in....
I awoke about 4 am. It was 7am on the east coast, where I would already be driving to work. Ready for a relaxing week of training, I stretched my arms up like the branches of the giant tree beside me.
Out of nowhere, the ground began to shake mercilessly. My first thought, having never been in an earthquake, was that this was going to be a totally unusual retreat!!
Then the golden pool below went dark, and I, so as not to fall, grabbed hold of the tree. We both shook for what seemed like forever.
Then it stopped.
The event of it all grasped hold of us for the entire week. TV news blared out the havoc and devastation caused. It all set a tone of urgency to what we were learning. It kept us awake and on edge.
During discontinuous parts of the day, a group would walk to the ocean which appeared to be untouched by the earthquake.
We all bonded, not only by the event, but by our ability to maintain focus on our reason for being there.
Today, so many years later, I love to tell the story of awakening, centered and so at peace. Being so present, in the moment, I could feel the earth moving at the root level of being awake and on already on my feet.
I remember the presence of sheer terror in that moment, as well. - especially when the golden pond vanished into darkness.
It was one of the magical life experiences, the memories of which return as sheer wonder and awe.
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