Or maybe a better metaphor is that 2026 has taken off, and it’s a really bumpy ride. This month has been challenging without and within. At least for me.

On the outside, there is the world falling apart — rampant promotion of fear, cruelty, separation, insanity, lies upon lies, and more, hopefully the last vestiges of false power gripping frantically to control an old scenario in a humanity that is envisioning something new. At this stage, it’s impossible to know how long this can go on in what I call the 3D reality. As it continues, however, I believe we will begin to see amazing new things surfacing simultaneously in every arena.

20's Cloche With Rose

— I had one more thing on my to-do list that morning: to drive down to the mailboxes and pick up a few days of mail. I found nothing important, except…the envelope marked Jury Duty! I could feel my body tense. And when I opened it, I found find there were no exemptions for almost anything or anyone at any age in Colorado. I have only lived in Colorado for a year, having moved from Asheville NC, where you can opt out of jury duty at 72. I'm now 79. This summons made me extremely anxious for many reasons that I will explain shortly.

By now, I felt pretty stuck in the mud. I needed to figure a few things out. Not thinking clearly, I brought the pee-ed on cushions inside and tried to wash them down with old towels. The fabric, made for outdoors, was easy to clean on the surface, but then there was the smell of cat pee, which could never be removed from the inside foam. And why did I spend so much energy on cleaning cushions I would never actually sit my body down upon again.

Thus began the quest to replace the chair cushions. I will not bore you with the details, which were ongoing for several weeks. Suffice it to say that the trail from Amazon to the seller of the patio furniture to the company in Hong Kong to the manufacturer in the US had me writing emails and making phone calls until this very morning when I received an email from Hong Kong that said they had (finally) “expedited the shipment,” although they couldn’t give me a tracking number.

As far as the stiff neck that had spread across my shoulders, I attended to it as best I could, massaged it, applied heat, exercised gently, and took Advil. And when I started to crochet again, I listened carefully to my body when it clearly indicated it was time to step away for a while.

This leaves the last challenge, why I needed to find a way of getting disqualified from jury duty here in Colorado. First of all, and maybe most of all, is that I don’t drive on highways, or in the dark, haven’t for decades. A good part of this is that my last cataract surgery in 2022 went mysteriously wrong, and to my surgeon’s actual surprise, although he never took responsibility, I wound up with Aniseikonia, where my eyes do not work together. They see different sizes, at different distances, wavy concrete, and no right angles. I never know what I or anyone else actually looks like. Even with prism glasses and contacts that correct what they can, it’s still challenging, and has produced a good deal of frustration over these last years.

And why is this an issue? I live in an apartment complex that is primarily in Boulder County. However, where the end of my road meets the main thoroughfare is the sign for entering Weld County, an entirely different world. In Boulder County, the courthouse is less than a half hour away with no highways. In Weld County, the courthouse is over an hour away requiring a convoluted drive on various highways. I was scheduled to report after 3:00 pm, which in winter here means that I’d have to drive home partly after sunset in the dark. And, I have no one who would be able to drive me. I would have to hire a car service in each direction at separate times. All of this was my first layer of anxiety.

A second layer was that I really could get pretty anxious in an enclosed, feeling trapped situation with many people in a small room. Especially in what feels to me like an alien environment after living a rather secluded life for many years.

Still another controversial layer was that when you see things from a much more expansive, multi-leveled vantage point, as I do, it’s very difficult to pass judgment on anyone. And I will leave it at that. Some will understand this, some will not. It’s all okay.

I will end this part of my saga by saying that to my enormous relief, I was able to get disqualified, although it isn't appropriate here to explain how.

The level of anxiety I felt that morning, however, was beyond anything I’d experienced in a long while. I’m learning to stay rather calm these days. Practicing mindfulness, appreciation, compassion, breathing, meditation, heart coherence, inner sovereignty, and Self Love have for me opened up new ways to see life, and my part in it. There is always choice.