Paul Mugwart, a Wisdom Catcher, told me:
“Everything that happens in the physical world happens first in the ‘inner worlds.’ If you learn to read the signs, you can see the future.”
Some people might dismiss this as hocus pocus. But I have seen evidence that there’s some truth to this. My aborted “Time to Heal Tour” is a good example. It was supposed to run from February 1 through 24. Instead, it ended the same morning it began. I remain bewildered. But I am not surprised. Signs were there the whole time telling me “This tour ain’t gonna happen!”
Early Signs
* The first sign was subtle and easily dismissed. Instead of the normal trepidation I usually feel before touring, the moment I booked the first gig I had a sense of impending disaster. I noted it, but told myself to “man up!” – a common way men in my age group “should” on ourselves.
* Eight weeks before launch date, I had ten gigs and a ten-day residency lined up in Virginia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Florida. But then,
* On Dec 19, one of the ten gigs cancelled due to circumstances beyond their control
* On Dec 20, a second gig cancelled
* On Dec 21, my dad, who lived with my brother in Atlanta, passed away
* And on Dec 23, a third gig cancelled
Was This a “Set-Up?”
At the same time I was grieving my father’s passing, I was also unhappy about losing three gigs and having a big hole in my itinerary. But, it occurred to me this might be what I call a “set-up.”
I was not aware in advance that my dad was going to pass, so I couldn’t have planned things to work out as they did. So “fate” set up these cancellations to create time for me to spend with my brother. The cancellations were, in fact, a gift. I felt the sting of lost income, but I was cool with the “set-up.”
Be Careful!
There’s a danger to attributing misfortune to “fate,” or calling obstacles “signs.” You might be denying your own responsibility for the ill fortune. And if obstacles are signs, it can be difficult to properly interpret what they mean. So, I find a good approach to these things is to put on your “spiritual scientist” hat.
You consider the possibilities, and you poke and prod. Is the misfortune a mere co-incidence or is it a sign? After all, if nothing happens out here before it happens in the “inner worlds,” then it must be true that something is going on in the “inner worlds” to cause the “misfortune.” But what is it? Is it a weakness in your vision? Is Life protecting you from danger? Is karmic debt requiring you to try several times before you succeed? I like to make my best guess and keep digging.
The theory seemed good for a while. But then, misfortune reared its head again.
Good-bye “Set Up” Theory
* Three weeks before launch date, a fourth gig cancelled
* Then a fifth gig cancelled. At this point, the tour was going to be a financial disaster
And, How Do You Explain This?
* Two weeks before tour date, on a Friday, I “overnighted” an important document to my brother so that it would arrive the next day. He needed it by Wednesday morning so we had four day’s leeway. But the package didn’t arrive until Wednesday afternoon! This was a first sign that our timing was out of sync.
* Then, his schedule got busier than expected and we were not going to have time to spend together, after all.
Disharmony effortlessly nullified my “set-up” theory making it look like I was not supposed to see my brother. So, what was going on? What do all of these “misfortunes” and “obstacles” mean?
Were They a Gift?
What if things don’t happen TO you - they happen FOR you? What if all of these “misfortunes” were gifts? What would this mean? I boiled it down to two possibilities:
1) For some reason, I’m not supposed to do this tour. Everyone who cancelled gigs was an important friend. They all felt terrible. And none of them acted negligently. Each cancellation was beyond their control.
Or 2) This is a test of my fortitude to persevere despite the obstacles.
I kept planning to tour, anyway. If the first possibility were the case, then Life would let me know by putting more obstacles in the way. If perseverance was the answer, well, I was persevering.
Then, …
* Ten days before departure, the Rig’s battery died. The message was now clear. But I rejected it.
* Then, 36 hours before departure time, one more concert fell through. I now looked at a 24-day, 3000-mile tour with only four gigs. And still, I said, “The show must go on!”
* So, Friday morning, at 10:46 AM, I departed. What happened over the next hour is recounted in my previous post.
* At 11:49 AM, a tow truck dropped me and the Rig smack dab back into the very same spot from which I disembarked 63 minutes earlier. The incredibly obstacle-laden tour had completely morphed into “The Tour that Wernt Gonna Happen.”
But, Get This:
* Getting home was easy as pie. The tow truck arrived lickety-split and the ride was smooth sailing.
* Minutes after I got home, someone called asking if I were available to give an online guitar lesson. “Sure,” I said. “When?” The caller said, “Right now?”
What do you suppose that’s all about?
Who’s to say? Either I will continue to strive to …
Keep the Flame Alive!