Last night was full of a vivid sequence of dreams. They were in full color with soundtracks to match each scene. But waking from them at first I wasn’t sure that I was really awake. The sounds of the waves on shore and the seagulls’ morning meeting on the dock outside the cabin reassured me that in fact I was awake, so what then was going on?

Something had changed inside of me. There was a melancholy to it, a mourning for something lost. There was an anticipation, a deep curiosity about what lay ahead. There was a shade or two of fear and excitement about what it all meant. All of it had me on an edge of my own self and indicated the emergence of some self discovery and change. I wasn’t sure if I wanted any of it.

I thought that I could shake it by going back into a dream, but the warmth of the comforter did not wash it away, it nurtured this strange feeling like a nest and it grew. It was time to emerge with it into this new day. It was time to go back and carry this new feeling of wonder and excitement forward into the more established patterns and practices that I have been developing at home.

Before I left I had a chance to walk a labyrinth that lay at the end of a beautiful forest path laid out in a sunny quiet meadow. It was the perfect location to unwind my journey here on the island and wind up my heart to travel back home. So many magical moments came to me while walking the labyrinth’s path.

I walked through the woods of Wonderland, but did not discover its secret. I softly held back a tear on the beach at sunset, while inside, I was crying out for a sign of what I should do next. I fell to my knees at the feet of Orion asking for the meaning of the life he had witnessed these many years. I quietly listened to the ravens across the forests trying to decipher the message in their call. I saw the beauty and challenge of what it takes to make a house a home and wondered If I would be able for this when the time came.

As the ferry pulled away from the island I finally had to admit that it was time to go back. The bubble had burst and I was really headed home. There remain only the echoes of my gratitude flying along on a strong westerly wind back to the land and sea and beautiful creatures who let me glimpse through their window on the world. The change in me that I felt this morning was not because of these things. It was the catalyst for these special moments. I can now extend some of that gratitude to my self as well and carry that home.