I already wrote down important realizations for the day in my paper journal. I generally do not have boundaries when it comes to sharing information, when it only pertains to me. Lacking boundaries when it comes to sharing information related to other people has gotten me in trouble in the past, but not the recent past, thankfully.

Today was a good day. The universe is really into keeping me with other people. I left with a man and his son to walk to towards the mountain this morning (Bugarach) and after a minute, they split off to do another trail. Just down the road, I threw a thumb out at a passing car. It stopped immediately and I hopped in. That was the first time I’ve hitched a ride like that. It felt easy, surprisingly. It felt like a good way to meet people.

The man was also going to hike the mountain. He proposed that we hike together. As usual, the conversation steered towards metaphysical topics, but this time, it took a bit longer. I usually dive deep quickly, but it was nice to know more about him before we got into a discussion of energy. It is possible that this is a side-effect of speaking in another language; one that I am 50% capable in, or less. He wouldn’t say that that was how I was communicating, but this number feels realistic to me. Either way, I’m on my third day of speaking French all day and am excited to be able to carry on about any topic with someone.

We had a nice hike together, and then he proposed that we go to “the source” which is a salt water spring in the mountains. He said it was a very spiritual place. Of course, the day before, the man I met who had a son had also recommended swimming at this spring. The swim was nice. I often can’t sense anything different about a place that is said to be spiritual or have good energy. Even in Sedona, I don’t feel anything special. Maybe I do and I just don’t understand how subtle it is, which happens often.

Butterflies have been coming up for me a lot since I parted ways with my Camino friend. Today, the new friend I had made during the hike, called me a butterfly at one point. I’ve never had anyone call me that. It seemed like the universe speaking to me through him. I mean, yesterday there was an entire grove (?) of butterfly bushes along the river we swam in. So the butterfly is calling.

After swimming, we ate crepes and sat in the sun. I enjoyed the man’s perspective. He told me he had at one point in life made a lot of bad choices, and then heard a Saint say, “there is nothing to fear,” which prompted him to turn his life around. Since, he has become a follower of Christ, but he believes that everyone is the same, and everyone is one with the same god, no matter the religion. It is true, that living like there is nothing to fear results in an amazing life. Freedom. Today I finally remembered the French word for free after trying to say it for three days. Libre. Remembering how to say the word felt like releasing chains from me, however, the chains were just feeling limited in my ability to communicate. In life, the feeling is like letting go of a fear, or realizing that you have overcome it because in a situation, the feeling is no longer present.

At one point during our hike, it became very steep and was very windy. Le vent violent. My friend expressed that he was afraid of heights. At that moment, I looked out over the cliff and realized that I was not feeling any fear. In the past, I had always been afraid of being on the edge of something. I had to crawl over to the edge to look at a view, at times. Now, libre was how I was feeling. The absence of fear.

As we ended our day, he offered to pick me up the next day to take me to another town, where his girlfriend would give me a tour of the castle there, and we would also hike. He told me his girlfriend spoke very good English. Oh no…I speak French well when I don’t have a choice. Once English is spoken, I forget all of the words! I was glad early in the day when the man had asked if I wanted to speak French. It was nice to be able to practice. It is getting easier.

At the end of the day, a friend who knows that I bilocated to Bugarach in my sleep two months ago asked if anything special happened today.

Nothing.

Well, I felt like it was successful, but it is true, nothing mystical. As I sat on the mountain today, I remembered a story from a friend. She said she went to a place like Bugarach, where it was said that the energy could activate certain abilities in people and meditated. Nothing happened, but when she left, her own abilities started opening up. So sure, some people have mystical experiences, but everything for me has been so subtle. As I remembered the story, I felt as if I would have a similar experience. The act of simply coming here would inspire change in me, like hitting a check point. So as I conclude my writing for the day, I am patiently waiting to see what comes of my visit to Bugarach, just like you.