I am in a different part of town for an educational conference. I had lunch at a Japanese restaurant where the sushi chefs were prattling to each other in Spanish. This offering was in the waiting area; to whose gods, I wondered?
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I got out of the house by 7:30 this morning because I knew the dusting of snow would not last long, and I wanted to enjoy the combination of blossoms and snow making every thing vibrate with beauty. I was not disappointed. The sun started to come out just after I had fully circumnavigated the Capitol. By the time I got to Lafayette Square, the snow was all melted, but the blossoms sparkled even more. It was such a glorious walk through the neighborhood, I was quite ecstatic, and at one point, I thought perhaps I was hallucinating when I first crested the Capitol grounds around 8am; from loudspeakers on the Mall (presumably there for Cherry Blossom Festival events), someone was blaring the Clash, singing “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”
Could I really have been hearing the Clash being broadcast on the National Mall at 8am on a Sunday morning? I remembered thinking we were making a statement when we blared the Sex Pistols as we drove across the 14th Street bridge towards the Capitol on July 4rh in the mid-80s. I remembered how disappointed my friends and I were when Joey Strummer disappeared the year I was living in London, and we didn’t get to see the Clash in Brixton. I allowed the flood of memories to rush in and then fade with the music. I thought of all the years I have been walking around this city, and how many times it has snowed while the blossoms are in bloom–more frequent than one might think.
I watched the melting snow start to glitter in the sun and the blossoms vibrating with their ephemeral beauty. And then I walked on through downtown, past the White House, and up to Dupont Circle, stopping to buy apples and mushrooms at the Dupont Fresh Farm Market before attending meeting for worship at Friends Meeting of Washington.
I have had a more stressful than usual couple of weeks at the office. While I was walking into the office, I was thinking about how the more deadlines I needed to meet and the more difficult interchanges I had to bring to the most optimal resolution, the harder it was also to have energy to give to those who are in far greater need, though I seek ways to be of service.
When I saw the oversized half moon dwarfed by the cherry blossoms, it helped put things in perspective. Nothing I do immediately impacts life or death. A hard week does not mean much in my life as a whole, my tribulations are only so much play in the midst of the outrageous ground of all human being, human being is only one small part of life on this planet in this galaxy in this universe, and who knows how vast is the realm of consciousness. I smiled at the moon and the blossoms and thought of their beauty throughout the day.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
When I was walking home in the gray chilly day, astonished and awed by the beauty and effulgence of the cherry blossoms as if experiencing them for the first time though I have been witnessing them blossom here for over 25 years, I thought about the principle of abhuta.
Abhuta, which means wonder, is one of my favorite sanskrit words. It is one of the important aspects of the Anusara alignment principle of “opening to grace.” When we approach things freshly and with wonder, then we will not only experience more delight in our daily lives, but we will be more open to learning something new from what we experience over and over again, both on and off of our mat.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Om namah shivayah.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
As I have walked around town enjoying the spring surge of blossoming trees, I found myself remembering that our most famous cherry blossoms were a gift from the Japanese, which remembrance sent a deeper yearning to help send healing.
At one sunny, pink-blossomed drenched moment yesterday, I found myself asking how could one’s heart not reach out to a people who brought us such beauty. I then thought that this country had no problem incarcerating “those” people on “our” soil and bombing their country when the arrival of the gift of our famous cherry trees was still in living memory. At that time, “they” had become our country’s enemies because of the actions and statements of those in power. The gift had become irrelevant in the context of war.
The peril in both thoughts is that they distance us from opening and relating to the essential identity and humanity in all of the individuals we meet of various nationalities and alliances–whether in a time of gift-giving or in a time when we cannot abide the actions or ideas of those in power.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Here is what is coming up from last year–perennials, volunteers, or things I planted in the fall (in order photographs appear and from front to back and left to right within photos): ruby chard, hyacinth, oregano, strawberry, cilantro, garlic, beets, brussels sprouts, kale, mizuna, parsley, arugula, lemon thyme, italian flat leaf parsley, echinacea, garlic, roses, spring onions, chives, mache. I will be planting seeds in the morning.
Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and unseasonably warm, one of those bright days right when the seasons are changing that bring a giddiness to our hearts and can incite us to premature planting.
The forecast for Saturday is cool and gray, with a high of 54F. Not only will it be a great reminder that the danger of last frost is weeks away, but also of how important patience and preparation are in the early part of the season, so that our gardens will flourish most optimally throughout the season.
Tomorrow is the afternoon and early evening to do a little weeding, to see what is volunteering, to check in the health of your perennials, and to sit with your vision of the garden for the year. Then on Saturday, nurture yourself and nurture nature by bringing yourself and your alignment questions to “Yoga for Gardeners” (to register and/or get more information please visit www.willowstreetyoga.com).
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I did not post a collection of photos from Miami trip as is my usual habit because I had other things I wanted more to share and because I had other things that were higher priority. At this point, a whole lot of living has gone on for me individually and for my social network and for the country and for the globe.
I find myself falling into the general current assumption that the only news of interest to readers of this blog is what has happened in the last few days, though experiences from all times in our lives are still interwoven in how we think and behave, and all of history shapes our current global cultures and relationships.
Is this picture really already old news even though I only get to go on “vacation” a few times a year (and that many are a great blessing for which I than those who fought for the rights of workers over the decades) and the effects are something to be carried through until the next opportunity? Is the photo any less beautiful an artistic offering for my posting it today instead of ten days ago when I took it?
How has your relationship between news and art and knowledge changed with the progressively increasing available of new images and thoughts and information in vast quantities moment to moment? Does it leave a feeling of being overwhelmed or serve as a reminder that the fundamentals, the very essence of things do not change and that if we pause and go deep, the idea of the vast turbulence of the outer world will not itself be our uprooting, though specific events may well challenge us.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.