A Gift Beyond

A fall in Tanzania, another in Spain, and another in Vietnam. These were not harmless tumbles quickly forgotten; each caused significant injuries. Perhaps they signaled an end to my traveling … but I am leaping ahead. To understand my experience of T’ai Chi Chih, we must look at the pathway to those places.

I had not welcomed retirement. I’d had a challenging research career for 30 years, and I dreaded the unstructured days that would follow its end. I delayed retirement until I realized that my presence in the laboratory was slowing the professional development of young colleagues. Then my beloved husband sank into dementia and left this life. My move to a beach community fulfilled a lifelong dream, but it put dear friends out of reach. A son moved his career and family to a place I could not follow. Only with love and forbearance was I able to summon the grace to smile as they left.

Travel saved me during those dark days. Being alone in a distant country was comforting when being alone at home was difficult to endure. That solace now would end; it would be foolhardy to continue to risk injury so far from home. It seemed I would have to build a new, restricted life. I found a book group, a writers’ group, and new supportive friends. I felt alive again. Clarity and calm came from the Friendship of the Heart Sangha where we meditate in the tradition of Thich Nhat Han, a Buddhist Zen master. Seeking further meditative opportunity, I found Lisa Otero’s twice-weekly TCC practice. Her exacting but patient teaching served me well. As I learned, I experienced a quickening and a quieting, but I did not yet know all that the practice would bring.

I began to feel restless. Would one more journey be possible? I traveled to ancient villages and monasteries in Turkey where walking often was treacherous. But I did not fall. Emboldened, I signed on for voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific on traditional clipper ships. As we moved with the sea, I did not fall. I traveled to Budapest and on to Transylvanian villages, and still I did not fall. It began to seem like a miracle, and I wondered how it had come about. I wonder no more: The practice of TCC has gifted me in a remarkable way.

The quieting and calming of TCC movements will insure my lifelong practice. Focus and attention, balance and strength are the unexpected and wonderful bonuses. I now stand and move with a steadier strength. I do not fear the rough terrain, broken walkways, and countless stairways that are routine in the off-the-beathen path places to which I travel. TCC has given back to me the adventures of world travel. On my 81st birthday, I will travel to Morocco.