My Own Personal “Calgon Take Me Away” Moment

I was in a wee bit of a tizzy yesterday. I had a phone call that I wanted to be super-y duper-y centered for so I could stay on the cliffs instead of letting myself kinda sorta "accidentally" fall off (which, as you know, I have kinda sorta done before). I meditated early that morning and focused on this upcoming phone interaction. Lo and behold, I received one of those special unexpected meditative gifts. For me that means an experience of being transported to a new level of understanding by the weaving together of images and ideas I had already been thinking (and blogging) about in tandem with a brand new idea that allows me to experience these things I have been pondering in a new, whole, and more integrated way.

What happened was this:

First, I recalled a blog I had written on my previous website entitled “I Need A Hug” at www.theyearoftheboy.blogspot.com (You should read it!). It was a tongue-in-cheek, fun blog written about something very very near and dear to my heart…the giving and receiving of what I call “head hugs” with our children. As I said in the blog:

Those hugs we parents give and receive when our little one is up in our arms. Child gently places head on shoulder. Parent gently rests head on child’s. To me, there is nothing more sweet and unique to our species than the act of cradling our child between the divine consciousness of the human mind and the love of an open heart.

Second, “The Gumby Challenge” popped into my mind. "The Gumby Challenge" is a blog on this very website. I'll give you a couple of minutes...go ahead and read it if you haven't already.

Don't worry. I’ll wait.

I hope you see that in “The Gumby Challenge” I was struggling to figure out a way to be in the daily activities and interactions of the world without being invested in the conflicts and drama of the world. Physically being of the world, while living on the cliffs of Higher Consciousness. I call that living, not in the either/or, but LIVING IN THE "AND."

Last, my unexpected and divinely inspired thought recalled something from my childhood. When I was a young, I often saw a television commercial in which the uber-busy, uber-stressed, and uber-responsible housewife finally allowed herself a few precious minutes of relaxation submerged in a bathtub full of a bubble bath soap called Calgon. The tub was always shot horizontally in front of a large window through which could be seen a bucolic and never-ending expanse of green fields covered with endless colorful flowers. The now serene housewife reposed languidly in her cherished bathtub, her left arm and hand relaxed and dangling over the rim.

Bliss and contentment were finally hers.

The tag line, “Calgon take me away” always filled my small self with questions. What was the point of sitting in a tub when she could be out running and playing in the flowers? Who is Calgon and why is he/she going to take her away? How can she go out with no clothes on? Won’t she be cold? Embarrassed? Won't she miss her children?

But most importantly...

Where does she want Mr/Miss/Mrs. (No Ms. It was the early 60's after all) Calgon to take her away to?

Fast forward to yesterday morning’s meditation prior to the phone call. I started with two thought threads placed side by side in my mind. The thoughts were (1) I wanted my heart space to be open, and (2) I wanted to speak to my phone mate from a Higher Self. “Hold on a minute!” I blurted out loud, “Isn’t that LIVING IN THE 'AND'?” And then a few seconds later, “OMG! Isn’t that what I call a Head Hug?”

In that moment of the super-y duper-y weaving of threads, I became that blissful and contented woman in the tub. God, the Higher Consciousness, the Greater Field of life, the (let’s face it) Ultimate Calgon Creator, transported me to my own personal Calgon Take Me Away moment.

Because once again, I was gently reminded; I don’t have to search for anything or figure anything out.

It is here LIVING in my body, in my memory, in my consciousness.

Bliss and contentment were finally mine.

LIVING IN THE "AND", I placed the land line receiver on my shoulder and gently lowered my ear to the earpiece, cradling it between the divine consciousness of my human mind and the love of my open heart.

I made the call.