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And thus the journey began

One month ago, I set forth on a journey of which the depth would far exceed the length. I returned ten days ago a changed person. Perhaps 'changed' isn't the right word. I was then the person I am now; I am now the person I was then. But an inner source has been tapped and a new dimension discovered; the center stronger and the path more clear.

Of course, enlightenment doesn't happen overnight. Especially not for me.

The separation anxiety I felt from my work was somewhere between 1) total panic and 2) the single-childless-woman's equivalent of postpartum depression. What do you mean there is no Blackberry service? The possibility of disconnecting entirely was more foreign a concept than 3G in a dial-up nation. By Day 3, I was in meltdown mode, with little chance of rescue. The only option was to drown in the ocean of calm. Of course, once I stopped flailing, I floated.

Flying from East to West, against the spin of the Earth, I had the sense of going backwards. To a land where Blackberries and Apples are still fruit, university is still a privilege, and the center of a community lives in the heart of each person. There are no stoplights and few celebrities. Instead, the culture is colored by prayer flags, monks, and one divine madman. This was Bhutan. And I had arrived.

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