This experience happened on June 22, 2020
Yesterday I went on a bike ride while listening to inspirational words from my mentor. I rode up Lief Erickson Drive to the bike/hike trail, then ventured six miles in.
Delight and clarity about life experience filled me as my bike jostled and jiggered over rocks, ruts and mud along the trail. It was hard going, mostly uphill, but I didn’t experience “hard”. Instead, I felt appreciation, fun and good times. I sought this, so “hard” felt “fun”.
I literally laughed at some points when tire and trail disagreed, which sent me and my bike in random directions, but never off-trail.
The farther I ascended this rocky, shaky, bumpy trail, the more exhilaration, joy and clarity filled me, and the less I felt the trail itself. My body and bike merged with every rock, every rut, while my attention focused, softly taking in All That Is – trees, birds, water puddle, bike, legs pumping…
At mile three I took a break during which sensations along my arms and shoulders caught my attention. I thought something bit me, yet no evidence of bites presented themselves. I scratched and rubbed, but the sensations persisted. Seeing no signs of insect attack, I ignored the itching, remounted and rode on.
After mile six I turned around. Going in, it’s uphill mostly, so going down presented an added challenge: more speed. I swooshed down trail, twisting and turning my narrow-tired bike through puddles, slippery rocks and even slipperier mud.
An Awakening Moment Lay Ahead
I came to a sun-drenched clearing just as the itching on my shoulders and arms got worse. I stopped to scratch but again, saw no evidence of irritation…no bites or bumps.
Suddenly, sunlight, colors in the trees, the sky, wind song, bird song…everything I perceived occurred at volume 10. Everything got brighter, clearer. My head got light, goose bumps covered my arms and neck. I understood then, the itching wasn’t skin-related. It was energy-related.
It indicated in-tune-ness with my Broader Perspective, my body releasing resistance yielded to pleasure and power born of pure positive focus. I straddled my bike, stunned in appreciation…
When I started riding again, I felt super-present, loving life and the world around me.
Far from the trail, in one of Portland’s remaining industrial areas, it struck me again! Beauty, oneness, harmony…the elegance of all that is filled me so much, I pulled my bike over, dismounted and sat on the sidewalk against the wall of a local brewery. I couldn’t ride any farther.
Everything I saw, humming birds flittering by, blue sky, white wisps of clouds, bright yellow sun, and yes, roads, buildings, litter along the road, homeless people sleeping in their cars… everything around me amplified themselves.
I saw it all connected. I saw it all beautiful.
Nearly every day since, I feel this way coming out of sleep, this oneness, this peace, this connected-to-All-That-Is-ness. I feel God’s happiness with creation filling me so completely, physical reality experience becomes an ecstatic experience. It’s the feeling I feel filled with the being of me: A God in human form.
