Apparently Theo is not coming to Atlanta until next year. I find myself feeling disappointed, but what he has taught me holds up whether he is absent or present in the flesh. His reason for not coming is that he is busy leading groups in Cusco, his home town.

He has invited me to phone or email him when I like, but he is so busy that I have done this only when I felt an extreme need to do so. The connection between Atlanta and Cusco is staticky and it is always hard to hear him.

His teachings for me can be contained in a nutshell. Be instead of think. Be grateful always. There are others below us and others above us and gratitude is always appropriate.

In the past when I had a bad case of flu, I heard him with his sister playing music for me. But such occurrences are rare. Having studied with Vernon Howard for so long, I know how to keep up my inner work. And it is never easy, but I think all of you know that by now.

Life is a series of teachings from the smallest thing to the largest thing. And the ego never feels grateful and is unable to practice anything for very long.

My other teacher, whom I never met or even saw, is Leonard Cohen. Many feel his presence although he has been gone several years now. I feel him when I write because we have similar energies that need to be expressed. He was a master and I am his pupil, soaking up his essential being. Life and death lie below who we truly are. As he said, say hallelujah, either the holy or the broken one. And Theo just says that in a different way.

I am starting physical therapy today. It is one on one at a nice place nearby. I look forward to it. Afterwards, the day is mine. I may stop by the grocery and will work in a walk and who knows what else.

With gratitude,
Vicki