Northshore in Minnesota

Several years ago I met Kat at a writing retreat in Cloquet, MN, entitled, Mindfulness and Writing. Part of the workshop was taught by a Buddhist priest (meditation) and part taught by a mystery writer. We would sit in meditation during the morning hours, and then write all afternoon.

It was mealtimes where I heard bits and pieces of Kat’s story, and like a magnet, felt pulled to sit near her. The writing instructor had asked us all to write short biographies before attending the weeklong workshop so she would better understand our goals. I overheard her telling the Buddhist priest that when she read Kat’s story, she thought she would be dealing with someone who was delusional. Kat has simply had an extraordinary life. One she has put a lot of effort into making extraordinary.

Her childhood was difficult, the daughter of stoic Norwegian parents. By 17, her ballet dreams were shattered with a diagnosis of MS. A college degree eluded her, but she still managed to own a floral shop. Eventually, she moved into the healthcare industry and worked her way to the top, literally. She became the first woman CEO of United Healthcare International in South Africa following the end of Apartheid.  When I met Kat, she had been retired a short time. She’d survived brain cancer, had near-death experiences, and had spent considerable time studying metaphysical subjects. She was the first woman I’d ever met who held a clear and commanding presence and yet, spoke of what, to me at the time, was still taboo. I felt so drawn to her.

Later, I would visit Kat at her beautiful home on the Northshore filled with museum quality artwork, much of it from South Africa, just to see what I might learn.

While my children scoured her beach for agates, Kat and I sat in her boathouse and she taught me to meditate. She held my hands and invited me to feel the energy. I imagined a current running through our hands clockwise and was astonished to actually feel it, going counter clockwise.

Mostly, what I have always felt from Kat is an incredible expansiveness and peace. She is like a star incarnate.

Years passed and besides Christmas cards, we lost touch. Then she joined Facebook and we reconnected. She has added a breast cancer battle to her experiences and is now cancer free. She also teaches a group of women once a month, talking about her spiritual journey and sharing what she’s learned over the thirty some years she has been studying with some of the finest teachers in the world, bringing her gifts to  those willing and open to learn and share their own experiences and thoughts.

Kat invited me to join them and do past life regressions this weekend.

In the past, the idea of speaking before a group of strangers would have had me reaching for my anxiety medication. Through grace and my work with past life regressions, there was none of that—not a glimmer. Of course, Kat’s home is the epitome of peace and tranquility. I spoke of my journey. Then I guided successively three of the women into past lives of their own. It was a great honor to journey with them.

This morning, before leaving, I had the privilege to sit on Kat’s beach and meditate. Her dogs, three Newfoundlands weighing collectively just under 600 pounds, sat with me on the great rocks. The water spoke and soothed. A few drops of rain felt cleansing.

Kat came down and we sat and talked. It felt so much like a gift of spirit.

Before I left, I looked for a rock to take home from the beach. Years before, Kat had given me a smooth stone from her shore and said, “The power that polished this rock lies within you.”  I reminded her of this, and she said, “Yes, water teaches us about the power of persistence.”

I found on her beach a flat rock with the perfect shape of a footprint raised on the top. For the past couple of years, as I’ve contemplated living a spiritual life both personally and professionally, I’ve encouraged myself by saying I would just take a little baby steps forward and see how it went. That way, I knew I wouldn’t scare myself. Those little baby steps have led me into a whole new world. This stone’s footprint is the size of a one-year old’s foot. Ahhh, Mother Earth speaks to me. “Well done,” I hear her say. I also found a rock shaped like a heart with a mark carved into the center. Kat held it and commented, “It looks like a check mark. You’ve set a goal and accomplished it.”

Indeed, being here with her, in a professional capacity and also as her student feels as though some unspoken goal set back when I first met her has somehow been fulfilled.

Should I meet another in the world like Kathy, I would consider myself twice blessed. She is a Bodhisattva.

Back in my own cottage on small Spider Lake, gratitude fills me still. This morning, I dreamed of whales, creatures that speak of remembering and awakening. I am altered. I am blessed.