There is one big city in the Midwest, and that city is called Chicago. St. Louis is just a cute little dot on a map compared to Chi Town. Not that I’m really into being around big cities, but two weekends ago I was able to make the four and a half hour drive north through Illinois to Chicago, and I did quite enjoy myself.

School wrapped up on May 30th and so, as if perfectly timed, I took off for Chicago the next morning at 6:00. Now, I wasn’t just driving up to Chicago for the heck of it, I was driving up there to go see a woman who I affectionately refer to now as my “guru”. Author of “Add More Ing”, “Spirit Junkie” and “May Cause Miracles”, Gabby Bernstein caught my eye back in November. I saw a clip that she did on a TED Talk and was so taken by her message that I asked for all three of her books for Christmas. When I realized that she was doing a book/speaking tour for her fourth book this past winter, I jumped on the opportunity to go see her in person and bought my ticket right away.

That’s how I found myself cheerily driving my way up the empty highway of Illinois on Saturday, May 31st. I was sad to leave a great school year and all of the kids behind me, but I was stoked to be going to see my guru. I arrived at the Bodhi Spiritual Center at noon and instantly connected with every other person that was waiting in line. It’s a cool thing, to go to a place where every single person is completely jazzed and vibrating at such a positive frequency. As a matter of fact, the majority of the people I ended up speaking with were crazy cool. Many of them were yoga instructors, vegan chefs/teachers, and spiritual leaders themselves. I felt silly just having read all of Gabby’s books, I felt like I was missing something. Take Michelle for example. She handed me a business card with a fortune on the back of it and is a yoga instructor and health teacher, not to mention her awesome pink hair:

The presentation and meditations took about three hours. The time passed very quickly though, it was just one large conversation and every time we meditated, the energy in the room just skyrocketed to a brilliant level. It’s hard to describe, but every person was floating on this high throughout our time together. Many were even in tears because they felt so good.

And after the presentation, I was fortunate enough to get my new book signed by the woman herself. Then, jazzed with my new found heart, I drove my butt back to Saint Louis.