Cheryl De Ciantis
Greensboro, North Carolina
Chapter One: The Mantra
Just before I left for Spain,
I spoke with a woman named Linda. I've not met her yet. A colleague of mine
connected me with her because he discovered by chance in conversation that she had an interest in St.
Teresa. Well, we were connected not entirely by chance perhaps, since some people describe me to
strangers as an artist with an amour fou for a saint which I inflict on managers in leadership
development programs. You could say Linda "channeled" St. Teresa for me. She was speaking from
her corporate office in Silicon Valley at the time. She said that she strongly felt la Santa was
protecting me, that it wouldn't be my last visit to Spain, and she felt St. Teresa would want for me not to
worry about anything. "Try to go without expectations and just let it all happen." Linda also said she
hoped I didn't think she was crazy, that
she never talks to anyone like this. Linda's grandfather was born in Avila. I kept hearing her words
in my mind, just let it all happen. I know this helped
immeasurably to make the trip
as good as it was. I didn't worry. I let it all happen, whatever "it" was, and I had an incredibly wonderful time,
every minute of every day. Back home, there were people thinking about me, even following the itinerary,
which I kept pretty well - it really worked! and I know their thoughts paved the way for me. I got lost a lot, and
lost the thing or two, but there were no bad incidents. Everything went very smoothly, I went to all the places
I wanted to go, and I had a month of total relaxation and pleasure, every minute of every day. Wow!Before I talked with Linda I
had worried : would I be able to write by hand in a journal? (I'm addicted to the
PC though some people seemed astonished that I didn't intend to drag a laptop along with me.) Would
anything special happen? Would ANYTHING happen? Hearing Linda say special words at the right time
gave me permission not to worry. Still, making a journey like this it's hard not to have hopes that something
special would happen, that I would encounter St. Teresa in some significant way, even experience some
sort of epiphany, and come home with a dramatic story. Linda's words were my liberating mantra.