Saturday, November 2. Day one of Viva. It’s always a strange experience to begin Viva after the high of the magic of our training retreats. So many new people have come in. For me, it’s always a little bit of a let-down at the start, but I always know I’m going to get into it because it’s such a nice event. Sheela and Sue, as usual, did a wonderful job of organizing this event. Dicken then gave a beautiful talk on “what’s it all about?” Simplicity itself. I had a “power of listening for beginners” breakout session that I facilitated with Natasha, which had a real nice feeling attached. By that time I was already starting to feel into the spirit of Viva, and it kept continuing. It was great working with Natasha; the last time that happened was in Denmark on my 2014 European tour, when I invited Natasha and Lise onto the stage to teach with me, which turned out to be both their first teaching experiences, and now look at them! During the long afternoon break I went to the beach again and took another 30-minute swim, which felt great, but it was a little too chilly to lie around and sunbathe, as the clouds had come in. I went back to my room, took a bath, took a tiny nap and then I had to be on the big stage with Gabriela about “navigating times of crisis.” Gabriela talked about her experience with the shooting in Gilroy, California, the town in which she lives. We then talked about personal crises: I brought up the time that I was in a mess of a personal situation, not knowing what to do and I’d told Gabriela, and she said to me, “Wait for clarity.” I will never forget that. It has stayed with me always. At the end of the session I brought up the time she almost lost her husband Wil, and I asked if she remembered what she had said to me during that time. Remembering that moment brought her to tears. It was a very moving moment, and that’s how the session ended. We got a lot of nice feedback about that session. Then I attended a breakout group on the 3Ps and physical healing and listened to Lili tell her story of her horrible bicycle accident and recovery, which was amazing. I was burned out after all that, so I skipped the dancing, went back to my room and went to sleep.

Sunday, November 3. Frederick and I gathered together right after breakfast to do something that is still a surprise, which Sue still won’t let me reveal, so you’ll just have to wait until tomorrow. Today was a light work day for me. After Bill Pettit gave a beautiful talk on the body mind phenomenon, I only had to do one breakout session with Ivan from Bulgaria on “bringing the 3P’s into the workplace.” I didn’t know why I was assigned that session until I heard Ivan start it off, then I got flooded with much to say. But the highlight of the day was we had a lot of people share from the audience, and I became very heartened with how many beautiful things are going on in the name of the Three Principles around the world. My good friend Holly had arrived, so during the afternoon break we walked down by the sea and had a nice lunch and catch up. Then we went for ice cream. Then I went back to take a tiny rest before heading back to the event in the evening. Even though I didn’t have to work hard today, I am totally beat. And tomorrow is my big day.