I returned from Amsterdam two days ago, and have been catching up--emails, calls, watering the plants, and re-connecting with Sigrid, Gunther, Eliza, Anders, Augie, and Fumiko. Robert went right back to work on Thursday--and I guess I did, too.

I'm currently contemplating a cluster of recent misfortunes. 

For example, when I got home, my phone had been disconnected (automatic payment snafu,) the garage door wasn't opening, the electric fan had stopped working and the bedroom smoke alarm malfunctioned at 4:30 am this morning causing me to miss a good part of much-needed sleep.  A call to the service people resulted in a total dismantling, and I await a new unit.

Before the trip two weeks ago, you might remember, I was hospitalized with a mysterious infection--serious enough that the attendants were asking me if I wanted to be resusitated if things got bad.  Upon my release, Robert picked me up from the hospital in Fumiko's car, which died twice on the trip home (it's working fine now.)  Later that week, my office clock died, my wrist watch and camera batteries both died, and the fax stopped working (it's okay now, but we never figured out what happened.)   (Gunther also called to tell me his watch battery died, too. He's blaming all this on solar flares.)

Last week, in a moment's carelessness in Amsterdam, I was pickpocketed and lost several hundred euros, my Visa card, driver's licence, and some traveler's checks. My laptop wouldn't power up at all in Amsterdam, although the portable printer worked okay (but was useless without the computer.)  I also blew out my hair dryer (it's working okay now.)

Today I began to slog through the paper work to get my insurance to pay for the dent I put in a rental car (a brand new rental car), when I was down at the Esalen workshop (the day before I was unexpectedly hospitalized.) 

Odd.  I can't remember such a run of misfortune.  Let's hope it's over.

By the way, two weeks before I left for Amsterdam, I dreamed I lost my wallet there. 

Amsterdam.  Doing my blog in a small pub with pool tables and dart boards.  It's lunchtime and no one else is here but Robert and I and the bartender.  Disco music is playing

It's another beautiful hot day!  We've had very warm weather since we arrived four days ago.  The seminar with Felix went well--we had a wonderful group of people--lots of coaches, trainers, and people interested in developing their business in alignment with who they really are. 

The central top of the seminar was synchronicity, and I experienced a huge one myself at the lunch break.  It turned out that the big table was full, and so Robert and I took a smaller booth to the side.  We were joined by four other people.  Two people were a couple, Karel and Maryanne.  Maryanne had introduced herself as a past-life regression therapist, so I was at once intrigued.  At lunch, I mentioned that one of the most influential books on my thinking--on the topic of past life and reincarnation--was by a Dutch author, Hans Ten Dam.  Dr. Ten Dam is one of their best friends, and he trained both Maryanne and Karel!!  I was blown away.  Karel asked if I would like to meet Ten Dam, and without thinking, I said yes.  Karel called him on the cell phone, and he is indeed in town, and not traveling as he often does.  I have an appointment to have a session with him on Wednesday.  We will have to take a train to go out to the place where he lives.  How can this be!  I remember even the day when I found this book, called simply, Reincarnation, in a basement, dark, esoteric bookstore in New York City--I think the name was Elie Weisel, and I believe they have gone out of business.  I read this book many times, and underlined special passages, as I used the vast research studies in it in some of my seminars to explain about past lives and how we come to choose a focus and purpose for our lives.

After the seminar I received a huge bouquet of organe tulips, which I have in the hotel room now.  Robert and I are staying at the Hotel Filoosof--the Hotel of Philosophy--and we are in the Aristotle room.

We also visited Rembrandt's house--kitchen, (they slept in box beds--sort of a built-in bed with drawers and cabinet doors to hide the bed.)  They didn't really distinquish bedrooms back then.  We stepped into his studio, and etching room, and saw many of his paintings throughout the four or five floors (each with a very steep spiral staircase.)

More private sessions this afternoon.

It's a beautiful warm day--will go recycle a couple of electronic items, and buy some plastic tubs for the kids to do some water-lay in the back yard.

Robert and I saw a preview of Dan Millman's new movie, Peaceful Warrior, on Thursday.  Great movie and great message.  It was fun to see it in Berkeley--Dan was there with the producer of the movie David Welsh, and even some of the current University of California gym team (Dan Millman was a top gymnast.)  It's important to go to the theater soon to give the movie a big boost--just like going to support The Celestine Prophecy movie! This genre of spiritual cinema is very exciting.

Little things make life so interesting.  I just bought a buffing cube that smooths down the ridges of your fingernails and then polishes them to a shine without nail polish.  I love it! (You can find it probably in any drugstore in the nail section.)

Gathering my thoughts for the seminar in Holland a week from today.  I have this sudden craving to wear something red, and found a new scarf, and some red tops.  Red represents change.  Hmmm.

It's about 6:30 am and I am sitting in the quiet dining room of the retreat center owned by Linda Miyashita in the mountains above the city of Nagano.  We are surrounded by trees and the healing, meditation music of her late husband, Fumio Miyashita.  The other guests--about 10 people--are not yet up.

It's a comfortable, homey place, and at one end there is a large room for listening to music and watching videos--a place obviously designed by Fumio.  There are many pictures of him in the house--a handsome, charismatic musician. 

The hair styles give away the time frame--chest-length hair in the seventies, moving towards a shorter cut with a goatee in maturity--always warmth and kindness in the face, and a big smile.  He was a pioneer of healing meditative music and became quite well-known and successful.  Linda now lives nearby and continues to open this place to those who are fans, or who have found their way here--like Fumiko and myself.

Yesterday, the conference went very well, and our seminar and private sessions sold out.  Today we have one more short seminar and a few sessions.  Tomorrow Linda-san will take us on a little sight-seeing drive before we return to Tokyo.

No one has come in for breakfast yet, so I think I'll steal a few minutes to read my Jonathan Kellerman murder mystery--books keep me sane on the road. I also have a Eudora Welty book of short stories from the Berkeley library.  Have to have a back up!