“Oh my God, it was a joke,” I say, laughing. I take another long sip of water before launching my next question. “Why can’t I just get people to do what I want? Like why can’t I turn Stephen Clark into an ally?”

“That’s not how it works. What we really do is influence deeper insight, which can alter how someone sees the world. Once that happens, change is inevitable. We work to inspire new realizations. After that, it’s up to the person.”

I want to ask Dean Harrison another question, but I don’t want to offend her since she rarely shares anything about herself. I try to think of how to frame it, but before I can finish the thought, she interrupts me.

“I’m afraid of many things. I just don’t allow that fear to define me and my choices.”

“What! You can read my mind?”

“I accessed the frequency you are emitting.”

“Well, I guess there is no privacy here, then.”

“If you don’t want me to do that, just say so.”

“Have you been reading me every time we meet?”

“Here and there, mostly when there is some change in your energy field. There was sudden distress and I wondered what it was. Know that you can ask me anything. In the beginning I was a bit of a firecracker. Very hot around the collar. Through many lives comes the calm of knowing and release from the fear paradigm. It is simply futile to resist or give in to fear. Life will never be without turbulence, but it’s easier to accept what is happening rather than fight it. That wisdom applies in every field, all realms.”

I consider what Dean Harrison says. I’ve never met anyone as calm as her. I wonder if she is Buddhist. In religion class, they say that a Buddha is the highest flowering of human consciousness. One is without inner turmoil and can access universal wisdom for the benefit of others. Does that not apply to Dean Harrison? I don’t know how not to fight. I’ve been resisting my entire life. I wonder if I’ll be a Yoda or a Buddha one day: graceful, calm, and wise. For now, I’m still a wellspring of curiosity, confusion, and determination.

“No, I am not a Buddha, just well-practiced.”

“Hey!”

“Last time, promise,” she says, smiling.