Author name: Franca Borgia

No, it is not! I am so glad to share this wonderfully inspiring experience of my recent trip from Venice, Italy to Phoenix Arizona and from Phoenix Arizona back to Venice Italy. I have become used to unconditionally trusting and following my inner guidance, my intuition. A few years ago, I would sometimes set two alarm clocks to make sure that I would not oversleep. At home, I still have two alarm clocks, but I no longer use them for the purpose of interrupting my sleep, my sweet slumber. I never use them in their quality as alarm clocks. They merely serve as clocks to inform me about the passing of time while I am conscious and awake. More than a year ago I found out that I am allergic to the disturbing sound of a ringing alarm clock. One evening I was very tired and went to sleep after setting the alarm clock for the following morning. As tired as I was, I should have slept deeply and peacefully for eight hours. But my system sensed the subtly aggressive energy and presence of the alarm clock that was ready and set to brutally disrupt the serene silence and my sweet slumber with a sharp high-pitched ringtone that my subconscious mind was no longer willing to accept or tolerate. It had already happened to me time and time again that I always woke up just a minute before the alarm clock started to ring. I always woke up before the alarm clock was ringing and turned it off before it could ring. Although I was extremely tired, I literally woke up half a dozen times during the night, every hour (!) and when I looked at the alarm clock, I realized that I still had more than just a couple of hours to rest and relax. Finally, shortly after sunrise, I woke up and looked at the alarm clock exactly one minute before it would have started emanating its sharp, high-pitched ringtone, disrupting the serene silence of this beautiful morning. Luckily, I prevented this from happening as I immediately turned it off and have never set it again since that morning. I was still tired. I had not been able to sleep properly because my system rejected the impending acoustic disturbance of the alarm clock. From then on, I have never again used an alarm clock. I must say that I was amazed at myself and at the tremendous power of my subconscious mind and my intuition. Since then, I have never ever used an alarm clock. When I go sleep, I determine precisely when I wish to wake up, and I surely and reliably wake up exactly when I plan to. Sometimes my system is over-zealous and makes me wake up just a bit earlier than I had hoped to, reassuring me of the strength of my willpower and the clarity and strength of my conscious and subconscious mind. For example, I went to sleep at 7 p.m. in the evening and thought of waking up shortly after midnight or around 1a.m. to work on my next book. I woke up half an hour before midnight, but then I went for another nap until 1 a.m. and further for another nap until 2 a.m., I finally immersed myself in the task of writing at around 3 a.m. and continued until 1:30 p.m., for more than nine hours straight. Two days before, I had been writing from 3:00 p.m. until 3:30 a.m. in the morning, for a total of twelve hours. Throughout the years I have sometimes worked for twenty hours nonstop when creating my artwork. For example, when I was painting the floor (about 150 square meters) in Venice in a space that now hosts the Feltrinelli book shop. My subconscious mind is highly disciplined and always reliably executes my orders. I have trained myself to wake up exactly when I want. Usually, the night before I embark on a long-distance trip, I cannot sleep. However, the night before I went on my trip to Phoenix Arizona, I was really tired because I had slept very little the previous night. At about 4 a.m. I dozed off into a sweet, refreshing slumber. I slept deeply and peacefully for two hours straight, until 6 a.m. whereupon I woke up rested, relaxed, refreshed and full of energy and enthusiasm. I finished preparing my luggage and got ready to get to the airport. I was perfectly on schedule. Early in the morning on Monday November 27th I headed to the airport (Venice Marco Polo) to board my flight to Frankfurt. As there were no direct flights from Venice Italy to Phoenix Arizona, I had to fly from Venice to Frankfurt, from Frankfurt to Toronto and from Toronto to Phoenix. During the flight to Frankfurt, I got acquainted with a practicing Buddhist, who was born in Tibet and now lives in the United States of America. He occupied the window seat next to me on my right. From Frankfurt I flew to Toronto. In Toronto I had to wait twelve hours for my connecting flight to Phoenix. I used some of the time to check on my Canadian friend, Gary, who had invited me to Canada in 2017. We met in Venice where he stayed for an extended vacation in May 2017 and we had got into conversation because he was staying at my next-door neighbour’s apartment (she lived in Rome and rented out her Venetian apartment to academic visitors). When I went to Toronto for the first time, my new Canadian friend and I attended the Toronto Festival of Authors, and we also took a trip around the country, visiting Algonquin Park, Ottawa, Kingston, Stratford-upon-Avon, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Niagara Falls. This first Canadian journey was an amazing experience that I will always remember with thankfulness. In the following years, I stayed at his place for a total of five times, including when I attended Bob Proctor’s life event July 2018 in Toronto.