Not words from beyond the veil, but I've always wondered about Uncle Paul calling me as a raced toward Cleveland having heard Dad had just stroked, and then him being horrified that no one had yet called to tell me Dad had already died. He suggested I might want to get off the highway for a bit. I was still in Kentucky so I did get off the road and went into a gas station to get a drink. I heard someone talking to a cashier about a multicar pile-up a few miles up the highway that had totally shut down traffic. She was ending her shift so the man and I and a couple others followed her on a long back way around the pile up. I've always thought Dad had his hand in that somehow.
Rebecca, I am a person who is relentlessly rational, and not normally taken to metaphysical or supernatural thoughts or views. In fact, not only is my name Dan, but for a 45 year career, I had a very similar job to your Dan at the intersection of IT and business. Yet I was incredibly taken by your beautiful and thoughtful essay and how well you depicted everything. Thank you for writing it, it was eye-opening and gave me a lot to think about. I really appreciate that. I love that I can find authors like you on Substack, I’m new to the platform, and contributions like this will keep me here.
Dan, In regards to this post, I don't think I could have conjured a better compliment. It is more meaningful than you know. Thank you for sharing it. My parents are a mix of spiritual (my mother was a minister) and science (my father was a safety engineer at NASA.) I married into a similar mix as an illustrator with a tech husband. For that reason, I have spent the better part of my life perseverating on how I could talk about the less rational parts of my experience in an inclusive way. This was my first stab at it. I also just joined Substack, and comments like yours will keep me here as well. Much gratitude.
THANK YOU. It was fun to write! I'm looking forward to posting in this series from time to time. It's a departure from what I'm doing in a meaningful way to me.
Hi Rebecca, what a very interesting way to weave your story. And a very interesting story. We all have the idea we are not supposed to talk about such subtle things, to keep it private and only said verbally to a trusted friend. Most of the time that is probably smart. I have been 'interfacing' with the inner world since at least the age of 14. And I have had some wild experiences, way too many to mention. The extra ordinary becomes ordinary for plenty of us I think but people usually don't talk about it and if they do they want to wrap it up in taboo and misalignments with cliche religious baggage.
That report is from the mystical world after all but that does not mean it is religious. Religion is a constructed social structure based on glorifying some people's inner experiences, make them into prophets and then profiting from that by building communities around who they think or want to project the prophet is and what we are supposed to do with their message and insights as recorded by the people around them - the disciples so to speak. It is a kind of weird fetishism.
But really, this other inner world, is just part of how the world works. Common as dirt. In fact, the inner world, the mystical world, the spiritual world as we think of it and all of the other realms, and infinite states of being seen and unseen are all wrapped up together as a single thing. It is all a kind of living dream dreaming itself. Some among us happen to have that sensitivity and awareness and proclivity toward the intuitive to glimpse into these other subtle realms (maybe many of us) but that scares most people.
So the sensitive people feel that they usually have to stay quiet about it and usually only talk about it privately among themselves when the moment feels right and 'permissioned'. Or, like this essay of yours, spoon feed it with the hope that people won't choke on it and make you feel stupid and strange. But we still feel the need to share and express ourselves even if we have to wrap it in a veil. We want to say "don't you see that?" when, to us, it is perfectly obvious once we are open to a broader sensibility about the wonderous world we find ourselves in.
Still, we are all dreaming and limited by our ideas and understandings and experiences that don't easy fall into common speech and it is hard to know what to do with all of that extra information.
Still, we must follow our own intuitive truth, we must stay true to it or we can't go forward or deeper.
I think this is what is special about artists, the art community has traditionally been a kind of safe zone that tends to be open and tolerant without insisting on some orthodox way of thinking. We are comfortable with diversity, ambiguity and multiple view points and able to walk our own unique trails through our practice of our art. Now-a-days that is the new mystical path I think.
The world - which contains all of the other worlds and realms - is a big mixed up place and impossible to unravel or to even know. Which makes it the perfect environment for artists. Add a quiet mind, a clear heart and imagination and bang. There you go.
All of this is to say, throw timidity to the wind. Occupy yourself. Become who you are. I have been writing about this recently in some new essays as well. You might like them. Onward through the fog!
“… the art community has traditionally been a kind of safe zone that tends to be open and tolerant without insisting on some orthodox way of thinking.”
YES!!
So well put. I never thought of it that way, but have sensed it under the surface. It’s one of the hopes I have for this Substack.
Not words from beyond the veil, but I've always wondered about Uncle Paul calling me as a raced toward Cleveland having heard Dad had just stroked, and then him being horrified that no one had yet called to tell me Dad had already died. He suggested I might want to get off the highway for a bit. I was still in Kentucky so I did get off the road and went into a gas station to get a drink. I heard someone talking to a cashier about a multicar pile-up a few miles up the highway that had totally shut down traffic. She was ending her shift so the man and I and a couple others followed her on a long back way around the pile up. I've always thought Dad had his hand in that somehow.
YES. I've always loved this story. I have no doubt <3
Rebecca, I am a person who is relentlessly rational, and not normally taken to metaphysical or supernatural thoughts or views. In fact, not only is my name Dan, but for a 45 year career, I had a very similar job to your Dan at the intersection of IT and business. Yet I was incredibly taken by your beautiful and thoughtful essay and how well you depicted everything. Thank you for writing it, it was eye-opening and gave me a lot to think about. I really appreciate that. I love that I can find authors like you on Substack, I’m new to the platform, and contributions like this will keep me here.
Dan, In regards to this post, I don't think I could have conjured a better compliment. It is more meaningful than you know. Thank you for sharing it. My parents are a mix of spiritual (my mother was a minister) and science (my father was a safety engineer at NASA.) I married into a similar mix as an illustrator with a tech husband. For that reason, I have spent the better part of my life perseverating on how I could talk about the less rational parts of my experience in an inclusive way. This was my first stab at it. I also just joined Substack, and comments like yours will keep me here as well. Much gratitude.
This was beautiful Becca. You definitely have a gift.
That means more than you know! 🥰
You’ve shared parts of this with me before. But this is beautifully knit together. You know me and how I love the spiritual. Thank you for this.
THANK YOU. It was fun to write! I'm looking forward to posting in this series from time to time. It's a departure from what I'm doing in a meaningful way to me.
Hi Rebecca, what a very interesting way to weave your story. And a very interesting story. We all have the idea we are not supposed to talk about such subtle things, to keep it private and only said verbally to a trusted friend. Most of the time that is probably smart. I have been 'interfacing' with the inner world since at least the age of 14. And I have had some wild experiences, way too many to mention. The extra ordinary becomes ordinary for plenty of us I think but people usually don't talk about it and if they do they want to wrap it up in taboo and misalignments with cliche religious baggage.
That report is from the mystical world after all but that does not mean it is religious. Religion is a constructed social structure based on glorifying some people's inner experiences, make them into prophets and then profiting from that by building communities around who they think or want to project the prophet is and what we are supposed to do with their message and insights as recorded by the people around them - the disciples so to speak. It is a kind of weird fetishism.
But really, this other inner world, is just part of how the world works. Common as dirt. In fact, the inner world, the mystical world, the spiritual world as we think of it and all of the other realms, and infinite states of being seen and unseen are all wrapped up together as a single thing. It is all a kind of living dream dreaming itself. Some among us happen to have that sensitivity and awareness and proclivity toward the intuitive to glimpse into these other subtle realms (maybe many of us) but that scares most people.
So the sensitive people feel that they usually have to stay quiet about it and usually only talk about it privately among themselves when the moment feels right and 'permissioned'. Or, like this essay of yours, spoon feed it with the hope that people won't choke on it and make you feel stupid and strange. But we still feel the need to share and express ourselves even if we have to wrap it in a veil. We want to say "don't you see that?" when, to us, it is perfectly obvious once we are open to a broader sensibility about the wonderous world we find ourselves in.
Still, we are all dreaming and limited by our ideas and understandings and experiences that don't easy fall into common speech and it is hard to know what to do with all of that extra information.
Still, we must follow our own intuitive truth, we must stay true to it or we can't go forward or deeper.
I think this is what is special about artists, the art community has traditionally been a kind of safe zone that tends to be open and tolerant without insisting on some orthodox way of thinking. We are comfortable with diversity, ambiguity and multiple view points and able to walk our own unique trails through our practice of our art. Now-a-days that is the new mystical path I think.
The world - which contains all of the other worlds and realms - is a big mixed up place and impossible to unravel or to even know. Which makes it the perfect environment for artists. Add a quiet mind, a clear heart and imagination and bang. There you go.
All of this is to say, throw timidity to the wind. Occupy yourself. Become who you are. I have been writing about this recently in some new essays as well. You might like them. Onward through the fog!
“… the art community has traditionally been a kind of safe zone that tends to be open and tolerant without insisting on some orthodox way of thinking.”
YES!!
So well put. I never thought of it that way, but have sensed it under the surface. It’s one of the hopes I have for this Substack.