On Saturday night, I participated in an all night Mayan prayer ritual called Mitotes with a group with 10 other women. My intention going into the experience was to find the willingness to believe in myself enough to write the book my heart has been calling me to write. I went in to the experience hoping to find enough inspiration that the scared little kid in me can once again have the courage to skip couragously through my life.

We divided into three groups and took turns singing/chanting a song/prayer that goes, "Spirit of the living God move afresh in me. Spirit of the living God move afresh in me. Melt me. Mold Me. Fill me. Use me. Spirit of the Living God move afresh in me" over and over throughout the night. Each group of women sang for 20 minutes at a time before waking up the next group whose turn it was to sing.

The sweet sound of singing women's voices filled the room from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. In between my group's turns, I drifted in and out of sleep until it was time to sit up and sing again. At certain times throughout the night, I felt myself throwing little hissy fits...I questioned why I had signed up for this. I was tried of singing and just wanted to sleep...But the part of me that was totally engaged and excited to be there was MUCH stronger and clearer than the part of me that wanted to be a brat.

It felt really good to just sing through the patches of resistance as I powefully invited the spirit in more and more. It's really quite perfect since what was at stake for me was the WILLINGNESS to move in the direction of my dreams and to not let my fear get in the way anymore. My mitotes experience gave me the opportunity to see how it feels to move past my stubborn childlike will and inner critic in a gentle powerful and feminine way! Through song!

We slept from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. and I had amazing dreams. Then several of us went to Glide's 9 a.m. service. (Glide is a very open minded church in San Francisco where EVERYONE is welcome... Christians, Jews, Muslims, Agnostics, and even Atheists come together to celebrate life.) I skipped around the church as the choir sang "It's time for a miracle!" and it felt great. I was soooo high and full of the spirit!

I went home and slept soundly for four hours and then got up and worked on the introduction for my book. I spent several hours putzing around with it and am feeling really excited about the direction it is taking.

Onward and upward! Spirit of the living God move afresh in me.