Alabama Bound

By Candella

Wow, just so much wow.

As many know, I have been passionate about The Celestine Prophecy for 20 years or so. When I first read it, I said it seemed to put many of the things I already felt to be true into such a wonderful package. It also helped me better understand some of the things I’d “known” but didn’t have the words for. I’d say, it was a huge insight for me to open up to the wisdom I found there. After reading it, I felt like I was “high” for days or weeks, just from the energy the book gave me.

When the 12th Insight (the latest sequel to The Celestine Prophecy) came out, all of that energy, insight, and feeling of bouyancy was reignited. I yearned for some people with whom to talk about the energy, the Insights, and the lessons of the book(s), so I went to Facebook and see if I could find some people who were as excited as I was. I joined every single Celestine Prophecy-related group that I could find, but even after joining, I wanted to find more excited Insight followers… so I created a Facebook group to talk about the Insights.

The Facebook group I started was originally three people, but we added some of our friends that we thought might be interested and a week or so later, the group had about 30 people there… and it hovered around there, adding maybe one person a week for a long time. Slowly, but surely, though, it did grow… that same group has over 5000 members now, 14 admins, and has developed into a pretty amazing community. From the very beginning of the Facebook group (Celestine Prophecy Insight Chatting), I knew that I wanted it to be led in a circular-leadership kind of way. I won’t go into all the details of what that means in this post, but essentially, I knew that it would be run by a “Team” rather than with one admin as the single voice of the group. So, as the group grew, I and then we have added admins to help with creating the culture and leadership of the group.

When that Facebook group had grown to about 300 members, I received a message from a woman who said she was James Redfield’s daughter– the author of the book that had inspired this Facebook group and had inspired this journey. Wow! To be contacted by this woman (Kelly Whitworth)– What an honor! She told me that her dad and she really liked my group and wanted to know if I would admin the Facebook group they had started. Of course! I would be humbled, honored, flabbergasted, and incredibly excited to help with this. Within days, I realized that this group, too, needed the “team” and I asked and obtained permission to bring “my team” to help with James’ group (Celestine Vision Community). Both groups continued to grow, and the Celestine Vision Community group has over 5000 members now too.

Over the months, Kelly and I had chatted several times, on the phone, and have developed a real bond of friendship, in spite never seeing one another in person. Around February of last year, Kelly informed me that James had been invited as a guest speaker to the Celebrate Your Life event in Chicago, Illinois, and asked if I would be able to attend. Tickets were around $500 per person, and that was a bit steep for my blood, so I told her that unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to afford it. She talked with her dad, and they somehow got tickets for me (and other admins who could come) to the event. The admins who were involved then were so excited, and we were trying to work it all out for everyone to come. However, even after the ticket costs, there are costs to travel (to get to the destination), and lives to deal with (children, family members, jobs, etc) that prevented everyone else from being able to go. I was thrilled to get to meet James Redfield and Kelly in person, and had a wonderful time. At the Celebrate Your Life event, I told James I wished we’d had more time to just chat, and he said, “Well, why don’t you come to Alabama some time?” Wow!!! Did that just happen?!?!? In spite of my surprise, I asked immediately, if it would be okay to bring 11 of my closest friends (the admin team), and I was told that they didn’t have room for 11, but if they could get there and be responsible for their own lodging, he’d be happy to meet the group. Even before I was back home, I was giving updates and details of the event to the admins, and beginning to plot our next CP adventure to Alabama in May of 2016.

Today, I am back home from that adventure. We had 11 of us planning to go, but, again, some were not able to attend due to lives getting in the way (costs of travel, children, jobs, caring for elderly parents, and other challenges). So, 5 admins (and a member who is partner to an admin) were able to go to Alabama. We were blessed to stay at the cabin of JR’s grandfather. He readily admits that when he thought of the cabin in the first book, this cabin was that inspiration.

We were able to sit in the presence of this man and share a bit of our stories with him, and to have his input into current life questions. We were able to listen to his stories of his childhood, and his depth of love for this lake, this cabin, and this particular patch of woods. We were able to eat with him, and laugh with him, and to share in an energy circle with him. Wow! That man can raise some energy!

James is pondering a new book. He is really excited about enneagrams, and he is also a very private person.  He really values his alone/meditation time, and his time to sit quietly and be able to reflect, write, and connect with the “download” so that he may write what is coming through without too much outside (other people) kinds of influence.

And I find that I am very protective of his privacy, and his ability to maintain his sanctuary, and seclusion. So, rather than being willing to share all of the details here, I think I will let this moment be what it is, and just be filled with gratitude, love, and the energy that I bring with me from such a wonderful vacation.

I will share that both James and Kelly are really excited about the Community Member area that is in process of being completed on the Celestine Vision Website. Part of our time at the cabin was to gather our ideas and further create and develop the vision of what that will be. James was pretty astounded that we (the folks who came) had never met one another in person, and yet we were so connected and bonded with one another. We have a genuine family-type love relationship that is hard to decribe, but it was palpable. This relationship and these bonds were visible in person, but we, who’ve been part of this community know that we’ve felt the bonds online for the past five years (or as long as we’ve each been present). The goal of the website, to some extent is to create an online community where all who are interested and following CP principles can come and “find their family.” And James is excited to be part of that family, providing input and feedback to the group and helping everyone who wishes to, to get better at applying these CP Insights into life – creating the kind of community that we had this weekend all over the world.

Blessings and love to all who read this, and to all who Hold the Vision.

Candella May 24, 2016