Following Bliss (The Quest series) (18 page)

# # #

Daniel walked
through the house again on his own, taking it all in. He felt joy fill his
heart as he imagined he and Shelby making a life together in the home. When he
walked into the pale blue room, he thought he heard children laughing, catching
him off guard. He knew he and Shelby had joked about having children someday
(like 10 years someday), but wasn’t certain how or what that would look like.
He had toyed with adopting, but it wasn’t something he and Shelby had spoken
about extensively. He shook his head and kept walking. Something about the
house was oddly familiar, although he couldn’t quite place it.

He walked back
into the living room and took a peak at Shelby. She was sitting out in the
grass, so peaceful, the breeze slightly blowing her hair. He took a deep breath,
realizing how much he loved her and how much he trusted whatever outcome came
in for her. He felt the house was theirs and, while he hoped she did as well,
he knew that in order to move forward, they both had to be fully in agreement—which
showed they were aligned on their path together. Otherwise, they would be
working uphill and that never worked—for anyone. Going with the flow was the
only way to proceed.

Daniel stood in
the center of the living room, closing his eyes, noticing that tears were now
filling them. He felt his heart chakra expand, and he knew. This was their
home.

Shelby interrupted
the quiet, “Daniel, let’s do this. This is our home.”

# # #

The next two
weeks were a whirlwind, as Daniel and Shelby made the necessary arrangements to
fully claim their new home, while letting go of their current residences.
Shelby was managing this in the middle of increased orders for her jewelry line,
while juggling her job at
Hello Portland
. Daniel found it effortless to
let his studio go, but noticed that when he wasn’t able to write, he became
more easily irritated and frustrated. He found himself beginning to focus on
what wasn’t working—no word from Jonathan or any agents/publishers he had sent
the manuscript to, and lag time in receiving payment from
The Sun
, a
magazine he had recently written for. 

“Shelby,” Daniel
said one night after they had spent several hours packing up boxes at her
place. “I think I need to have some energy work done. I’m cranky and definitely
not in the flow like I want to be. Have you noticed that too?”

Shelby brought
Daniel a glass of sparkling water with lime in it and stroked his hair gently.
Tilting her head to one side, she said rather seriously, “I’ve noticed you
curse a lot more when you’re packing boxes, yes.”

Daniel took a long
drink, trying to contain his grin. “Well, that’s one way of answering the
question,” he said poking her lightly in the side. “But really, are you feeling
like you need energy work at all? Cause I think I definitely need my energy
field balanced and whatever else they can do to me.”

“Surprisingly,
I’m doing okay. It’s a lot to juggle, but I feel so excited about what’s
happening with us and with my little side business growing, it’s all okay. What
kind of energy work are you thinking?”

“I’ve had a
couple of BodyTalk sessions in the past with this delightful British woman and
I feel like contacting her for another one. When I was at the beach in Maui
after you left, I got a sign from my mom that I should schedule a session with
her and that she could support me with all of these transitions. It feels like
I’m definitely overdue for a session. It seems like it will get me away from
focusing on what’s not working, and back aligned to where you are—in seeing all
the good that is happening for us with this move.”

Shelby nodded,
suddenly inspired to shift Daniel’s energy on her own. “That’s awesome honey. I
love how your mom was guiding you to receive energy work because she knew these
transitions with us were going to happen. And in the meantime…” Shelby said, as
she put on her best seductive smile, playfully raising her right eyebrow.
“Let’s shift some of that downtrodden energy with a little energy work by
Shelby.” She then gabbed Daniel’s glass of sparkling water, took a long sip,
and led him into her mainly packed up bedroom.

# # #

It was t-minus
two days until move-in when Daniel went to see Gabby Adison, a BodyTalk
practitioner and intuitive healer with a thriving practice and lovely healing
space in Multnomah Village. While everything had come together extraordinarily
well with the move, Daniel still noticed his tendency to get irritated about
little inconveniences and his almost addictive email checking to see if he had
heard from anyone about his novel. After continuous checking on his payment
from
The Sun
, it finally appeared, but not without too many stressful
thoughts about money and how everything was going to come together. Daniel
needed to re-center and he hoped that’s exactly what his session with Gabby
would bring.

Gabby was in her
late forties with flowing blonde hair, effervescent blue eyes, and an English
accent that held all her American clients captive. She had been practicing
BodyTalk since it was developed in 1999, after spending many years as a
physical therapist and yoga instructor. With BodyTalk, Gabby used muscle
testing to tap into Daniel’s deeper wisdom to find out what systems in his body
needed to be balanced and harmonized for his highest health and good. For
Daniel, it was an opportunity to commune with his deeper wisdom and find out
what the messages were in his increased irritability and hyper-vigilance around
finances and his career—especially since it had gone into such a state of flow
and abundance since meeting Shelby.

As Daniel lay on
the table, surrounded by candles and a soft beige blanket, Gabby’s soothing
voice and the healing energy of BodyTalk began to sink into his consciousness.
Soon, he felt like he was floating.

“We’re releasing
a fear of not making it in the world, while balancing your adrenals and
pituitary.” Gabby tapped lightly over his head and chest, and while he could
hear her words perfectly, he felt like she was far away as he drifted in and
out of a sea of consciousness. He saw the ocean and smelled it, too.

“Daniel, is your
mother passed on?” Gabby inquired.

This brought
Daniel back to the table, with Gabby’s voice coming in more strongly. “Yes, she
passed on 11 years ago.”

“Yes, we are
balancing her to a package with Shelby and your heart—both physically and
energetically—as well as the belief system that you have to do everything
perfectly for it to be a success.”

Daniel felt as
though he were being hugged from behind, as energy began to move all around his
chest and upper back. The hairs on his neck and arms rose as he felt a cool breeze
brush over him.

“Gabby, do…do
you feel that?”

She patted him
lightly on the shoulder. “Just breathe into whatever you’re feeling Daniel.
Trust it.”

With those
soothing words, Daniel drifted up and out again, floating as Gabby continued
the session. In what seemed like only minutes later, she patted him again on
the shoulder, whispering that she wanted him to lie there for another 5 minutes
or so while the healing formula downloaded. She would come back in with some
water after that and he could get up.

After Gabby
left, Daniel continued to feel movement in various parts of his body. A lot of
activity was happening in his heart, and he also felt movement down at his
feet. He focused on breathing into whatever area of his body became activated—remembering
Gabby’s words to trust what was taking place. At one point, he thought he saw
his mother, like a wispy figure, floating along with him. But as soon as he
noticed it, his conscious mind kicked in and she vanished.

Shortly after,
Gabby returned.

“How are you
feeling Daniel?”

“Light, like I
was floating most of the time. And my mom—she showed up briefly, but once my
mind recognized her, she was gone.” Daniel sat up on the table and Gabby handed
him a glass of water. He hadn’t noticed it until then, but he was dying of
thirst. He quickly gulped down the water as Gabby stood across from him
watching. “You know what’s weird? My mom was sending me and Shelby lots of
messages, but since we visited her head stone, she’s been totally quiet. It’s
strange…but when I saw her, I got the impression that she was moving on to
something else, although I’m not sure what. Maybe her next life…” Daniel’s
voice trailed off as his rational mind attempted to make sense of his vision and
the message that was being transmitted to him.

“Go easy Daniel.
We moved a lot of energy for you. Keep drinking water—you’ll want to stay well
hydrated while this healing is integrating more fully into your consciousness.
Can you rest after this?”

Daniel looked
over at her, noticing how the colors in the room, which seemed muted when he
came in, were now more vibrant. The blue and green hues popped out and Gabby’s
yellow tunic seemed much brighter than before. It was like he was seeing with
new eyes.

“I think I might
be able to squeeze in a nap. We’re moving in two days, so it’s kind of go-time
right now. But, I do feel like I need to sleep for a few hours.”

Gabby took the
now empty glass from Daniel. “Honor whatever it is that your body needs. When
you do this, you’ll be surprised about how easily things flow. We tend to think
we need to work harder to make things happen. What we don’t realize is that all
we have to do is
be
more of the time and let the Universe do the rest.”

Daniel nodded.
“Well, I wanted more flow, so I will follow your advice and do whatever my body
asks for.”

He got off the
table, having to steady himself a bit and gave Gabby a big hug. Right now, he
felt so in alignment, there wasn’t a doubt or a worry in his mind.

# # #

Two hours later,
Daniel awoke to the sound of his phone chiming. Rubbing his eyes, he couldn’t
believe how long and hard he had slept. He picked up his phone to discover
several messages. One was from Jonathan and another from Shelby. He hadn’t
heard from Jonathan since Hawaii and was immediately curious. Opening up the
email, he found the following:

Daniel,

It was such a
joy to connect with you and Shelby in Maui, even amidst such unusual
circumstances.

I’ve had a
chance to read your manuscript and share it with a few other editors here. We
really love it and would like to discuss publishing your novel. Do you have
time for a phone discussion about this tomorrow around 1 p.m. PST/4 p.m. EST?

Look forward
to working with you further.

Warmly,
Jonathan

Daniel blinked,
rubbing his eyes and reading the message again.
He was moving in with the love of his life this week, and was potentially being
offered a publishing contract.

“Damn. That
BodyTalk is good,” he murmured as he dialed Shelby’s number.

# # #

Moving day came
without incident, and as Daniel and Shelby unloaded the last few items from the
moving truck, they couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Can you believe
this is our life?” Shelby said as she carried a box into the bathroom (complete
with an above-the-counter bronze sink bowl).

“It’s pretty
ridiculous,” Daniel said as he set down the last box filled with books for the
living room.

Shelby galloped
down the hallway and into the living room.

“You have a book
deal! We live in this amazing house! My jewelry biz is booming!”

“And you’ll be
giving notice at
Hello Portland
soon,” Daniel added.

They both found
themselves, despite feeling physically exhausted, overcome with excitement, combined
with disbelief over the past two days.

Daniel’s call
with Jonathan had been effortless. They were offering him a three-book deal
over the next three years, with a generous advance, royalties, and marketing
support. With one manuscript done and another almost complete, Daniel felt
absolutely confident in his ability to meet his end of the contract, and attend
book signings and other events to support his marketing efforts. He also felt
very drawn to enlist the help of social media, running Facebook and Twitter
campaigns. Jonathan would be sending the contract to him later in the week, for
him to review with his lawyer (which Daniel was going to have to get), so they
could finalize all the details and sign on the dotted line.

Daniel felt he
was living part-dream, part-reality. It had taken some time for the reality of
Shelby and his union to integrate fully into his mind, and he had a feeling his
book deal would be the same. Ever since his BodyTalk session with Gabby, he
felt more in the flow than ever before. He had made sure that he listened
carefully to his body and did as it asked, especially after receiving the email
from Jonathan. The Universe knew what it was doing. And he wasn’t about to mess
it up.

Shelby
disappeared into the kitchen while Daniel surveyed the scene. There were boxes
everywhere, but soon things would be in order. Kathryn and Scott had been there
earlier in the day to help them move the big stuff—Daniel and Scott had gotten
the bed and couch into the house, while the ladies worked on directing their
efforts. They had the next few days to begin the unpacking process and had both
agreed they would not rest until the house was in a state of order. A perk of
being a neat freak, Daniel surmised.

“I know we said
we wouldn’t rest until the house was all put together, but I believe a
momentary celebration and toast is in order,” Shelby said as she came back into
the living room with a bottle of champagne in hand.

Daniel smiled,
he loved how she made everything in life more fun. He took the bottle, while
she went back in for the glasses.

“We can still
work while drinking champagne. I am not opposed to that at all,” Daniel called back
after her.