To Ian...

For a time every morning during my walk, I periodically meet a young man decades my junior with an artistic gentle feel.

After passing each other two consecutive days, I determined on the third to introduce myself and ask his name. Ian was walking to the bus stop for work downtown. He had graduated from my alma mater earlier this spring. We talked. Ian said he would like to continue to live in the neighborhood prompting me to share how I had lived in the village since '77 thanks to a series of synchronicities.

We got to end of the block, our fork in the road, prompting our separate ways. Ian walked up the hill, the scenic way to the bus stop as I wanted to call out, "Wait, I talked too much."

I walked home wishing I had inquired more of him, this kindred spirit who preferred the serene yet uphill path to the bus stop over the traffic-lined one.

The above meeting was two weeks ago. I've not seen Ian since. I was away for a week then it turned cold.

Today I walked along pondering Ian. What was I really trying to say with all my sharing?

"Ian, allow yourself to really desire, to really want something in life, then
stay awake, pay attention to the signs and clues. Spirit or the Mystery has
a way of sprinkling them before us and from this a rich life flows."

I smile for I thirty years later am reminding myself of this too.

-Dawn, the Good News Muse, 18 November 2010
Contact: dawn@imaginetheshift.com