Lurkster alert: Hides in the alley behind a good thing. Known to pounce from the back of minds, and in bold cases, right off the tongues of participants or recipients. Frequently takes the form of “how we gonna top this?” Shows up before the table is cleared, the ink is dry, or the sheets are cold. Extremely dangerous to humans, especially creative types.
Daily doses of trust are recommended to keep this bugger off your tail.
I should know. The slightest hint of a good thing, and my head used to fill with the sickening sound of the other shoe dropping. I once left a party thrown in my honor expecting the car to crash on the way home. I almost closed my eyes and let go of the wheel to get it over with — and then.
I just kept on going.
And going.
It took awhile — at least 15 years after the imagined fatal car wreck — but ultimately, it was the creative process that delivered trust to me and showed me how to make it my steady companion.
I’m not sayin we’re inseparable, but we’re definitely gettin along these days and I’m learning more every day.
Trust has taught me to play a wonderful host to good things that come home to me. To listen and pay attention. Invite doors to open with gentle curiosity. Sit back. Breathe in and out with my treasured guest. Let the scent of pleasure pervade. Be drawn out one sip at a time.
And relish in the consummation.
Après consummation, then, is simply a beautiful afterglow.
JULIE ANN STEVENS 
