Quest Readers Share their Journeys
I love when readers send me little gifts in the form of letting me know the ways they’ve been impacted by Quest for Eternal Sunshine. Today, I’m happy to share six very different morsels of inspiration. I greatly enjoyed them all, and I know my dad would have loved them, too. Many thanks to every contributor, and please keep the comments coming!
— Myra
Beauty in the Time of COVID — from Ann Packer
“Based on trying to use techniques from the Quest for Eternal Sunshine book and newsletter (being present, concentrating on the positives, gratitude), I’ve started taking pictures on my daily walks to capture what I call ‘beauty in the time of COVID.’ I’ve loved doing it because it makes me look at nature more closely and appreciate how unique and beautiful our surroundings are. Being present in this moment of beauty is a wonderful way to avoid being caught in the stress and uncertainty of living through a pandemic. It’s been a great exercise and now I’ve got tons of lovely photos!”
Photos by Ann Packer
A “Mendek Moment” — from Marla Abraham
“Recently, we helped our daughter move, which required a grueling two full days on the road with the extra stress of traveling during a pandemic. We arrived home around 11pm, worn out and feeling depleted. I pushed myself out to the backyard for some fresh air, and saw that a flowering tree that hadn’t yet blossomed when we left was now in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous. I jumped up and down in delight, and then made everyone come and take a look at its splendor. In that moment I thought: I am having a total ‘Mendek Moment!’ It is great to finally have a name for those peak experiences I sometimes have in nature. I am grateful to you both for that!”
The Power of Imagination — from Jack Sherman:
I can relate so much to Mendek’s methods of dealing with deep sadness and loss. I had practiced creative visualizations in the past, but the success Mendek had with it inspired me to start doing it again and take it more seriously. Now, when I am falling asleep, I often imagine I’m on a magic carpet floating through space and time, through the many magical places and people who will always exist in my mind. I travel to enchanted realms during the day as well. It is a powerful technique. We only have to be open-minded to the healing power of such inner journeys—which are for me just as real, if not more so—than the outer ones.
Inspiration at the Right Time — from Anne Sibley:
I know I was supposed to read this book right at this time of my life, during these times. I was so inspired by Mendek’s ability to survive atrocities and then move forward with so much thirst to heal himself. As I was nearing the end of the book, I didn’t want to say goodbye to Mendek. It felt like we had become old friends. But I knew that if he could be courageous, I can too. If he can heal himself, I can too. Each day, as I read a section and learned how Mendek was dealing with his struggles, I would find myself trying his techniques out in my own life. It opened my eyes to new ways of being. I found it especially interesting that we have to mindfully open to more joy!
Note from Myra: When Katie read my Savor the Present Moment essay where I wrote about my two clear “awakening” experiences, she was reminded of one of her own. I asked her if she would be willing to write about it, and she generously agreed!
A Glimpse of Magic — from Katie Dutcher
I grew up in a small town in Ohio. When I was thirteen, our church youth group went on an evening field trip to a corn maze—one of the many that always sprung up in corn-country during late summer and early fall, along with pumpkin patches, hayrides, and bobbing for apples. I don’t remember much from that evening, except for a special moment that still remains crystal clear.
Photo by Katie Dutcher
As the group entered the corn maze, I quietly drifted to the back. After a long day spent at school and then at home with my brother and sisters, I wanted some time to myself, so little by little, I let the group go on ahead without me. I found myself walking alone, with no one else around.
Night was falling, a soft blue dusk with the tops of the corn high overhead, spikes silhouetted against the darkening sky. A chill was in the air, summer bleeding into fall, making it cozy to shove my hands into my jacket pockets.
In one pocket, I found a candy that someone had offered me earlier—an old-fashioned hard candy, smooth and transparent with a stripe of red and green running through. I unwrapped it and put it into my mouth.
Out of the blue, as the strong wintergreen flavor filled my taste buds, my senses were suddenly sharp and alert. The world seemed to crystallize so that I perceived a unity between the crisp night air, the brisk coolness of menthol, and the corn plants standing tall that created a rustling green passageway giving way to sky above, where twinkling stars were just beginning to show.
I walked in blooming present-moment awareness, savoring the experience, feeling my head and heart explode. Arising suddenly out of nowhere, this indefinable presence felt like sheer magic—awe, connection, possibility, and wonder—washing through me so powerfully. The experience is impossible to accurately describe, but I remember thinking the word, “epiphany.”
As I look back now, almost thirty years later, I can identify the same essential ingredients that spell out wellbeing and inner rightness for me today—solitude, newness, the natural world, and activated senses. For me, a teenager growing up in a small town, this was the first time these potent ingredients had ever aligned quite so vividly. This moment was a gift that let me touch into the illuminating truth: This is who and how I want my life to be. Here is a glimpse of magic to carry me through.
Waterfall Guided Meditation in Song — from Akemi Osajima
Note from Myra: During an InsightLA event for Quest for Eternal Sunshine with their founding teacher—my cousin, Trudy Goodman— Trudy guided the attendees through my dad’s Waterfall Visualization with the added aspect of breath. This inspired Akemi and her friend to create a lovely and unique three-minute meditation, which includes visuals, voice, sound effects and song. Below is the visualization as it appears in the book. Enjoy!
Mendek’s Waterfall Visualization from Quest for Eternal Sunshine:
I imagine standing under a waterfall and letting the running water caress my body, from the top of my head to down past my toes. I feel my worries wash away, and gladly let them go. I do as many or as few of the following visualizations as I feel like in one sitting, and I’m always adding new ones.
The waterfall is washing my anger away.
The waterfall is washing my insecurities away.
The waterfall is washing my illusions away.
The waterfall is washing my pride away.
The waterfall is washing my loneliness away.
The waterfall is washing my worries away.
The waterfall is washing my guilt away.
