A Different Sort of Journey

Traveling for book research has settled down temporarily while my studies pick up pace. I've been working on a new certificate since January, and have had to shift focus for a bit to make sure my academics don't suffer! Fear not, I am catching up on some of the writing that had been falling behind during that whirlwind travel period - and that has been the real journey.

How is this writing any different from that in my past? That's an interesting story. I had a very peculiar thing happen about a month ago that I only shared in a passing mention on my Facebook wall. I found a book in my house and have no idea where it came from. It was in a prominent spot (the place I keep library books so they won't become lost in the overflowing family collection) and seemed to just show up one day. The book is clearly used, dated a 1991 printing, and is not a former library book. It has no signs at all of where it may have come from. A true mystery.

The book is "Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest" by Christina Baldwin. It's not the typical sort of book I would buy for myself at all, and yet it appeared at a time when I was receptive to its message and could truly benefit from it. Since most of my writing is done in a journalistic first-person style, almost all of it is introspective and relates to the insight offered by Baldwin, and the impact of her book has been truly surprising. I might even call it serendipitous.

The largest change I've noticed is my growing acceptance of the paranormal. Before "the incident" in October, I would investigate, attempt to find natural explanations for the events witnessed, and still remain skeptical and maybe even a bit in disbelief about those findings even if they could not be logically explained. Now that I've started opening up more to the possibility of true paranormal encounters instead of trying to rationalize them to death, the encounters have grown in frequency, strength, and variety. I have witnessed much more in the past four months than I ever thought possible before, and this all became apparent to me when I wrote about it.

Thanks to this mystery book, I have learned how to dig deeper and look for the meaning behind the events, the purpose of the trek. I'm not one to usually recommend books of this genre, but I feel that because of its message, my spiritual road finally has a map.