I recently experienced the truth of this yet again.
Last spring I reached out to a housecleaner we had used a few years ago. The months flew by and I never managed to schedule a time.
I was finally desperate. You see, I’m one of those people who “sees” everything, but (#1) I dislike cleaning house, and (#2) when I do clean I take for-ever, because — yeah — I see every little thing!
So, we were going out of town and I decided to have the cleaner come any day during the week we were gone. It was last minute. There were piles of stuff all over. But I didn’t care. It just needed to get done!
And, sure enough, done was better than perfect. In fact, done was WAY better than perfect.
You see, my idea was that I would put away all the clutter; sort through all the old photos; and find a place for everything. Then and only then would I have someone clean.
But the truth is that getting started moves energy! So, three weeks later I had the cleaner come in again. This time I managed to clear some clutter; put away some photos; and find out-of-sight/out-of-the-way places for stuff to go.
And we’re loving our space. It looks and feels so much better. And now that we have that momentum, it’s much easier for us to keep it that way.
I had a completely different topic in mind for today’s blog, but then the TV show we watched tonight ended with the lead characters singing a rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and I just had to stop and listen to the original.
What an amazing song it is. So powerful.
I still remember discovering Simon & Garfunkel in junior high school. I couldn’t get enough of this song, or “The Boxer,” “Cecilia,” “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright”, and so many others.
And then they broke up! I remember how distressed I felt, to have just discovered them and then they were gone.
But the music remains, as alive and wonderful as ever.
This video of “I Wander With Thee” is from almost ten years ago; amazing how far video quality has come in that time!
Today I once again experienced the truth that if I’m stumbling over the lyrics to a song, it’s because I haven’t gone deep enough in understanding what I’m singing.
The opening song for today’s service was “I Wander With Thee,” one of Swami Kriyananda’s St. Francis songs. It’s a perky tune, sung in unison, and I think it’s often relegated to the category of “easy, simple, doesn’t have a lot to it.”
But it actually has a powerful message, which I was glad to finally tune into!
This is the introduction to the song written by Swamiji: “In the spirit of St. Francis Let us roam the earth Spreading God’s joy everywhere, And inflaming hearts with divine love.”
And here are the lyrics: Father, now that I wander with Thee, Flow’rs and fields are alive with Thy joy! All that I owned to Thee I’ve given, Now I sing: In Thy love I am free!
Father now that I dance in Thy name, Birds and animals share in my song! All my sorrows, all my merriment, Join in music to set hearts aflame!
It truly is feeling like “A Whole New World” (as Aladdin sang to Jasmine many years ago 😄).
We’re getting ready for the Return of the Choir here at Ananda Village, which is only happening thanks to the option of singing with masks.
But not just any mask!
We’ve ordered some of the specially designed “singers’ masks,” that will allow us to open our mouths wide (without the mask falling below the nose) and inhale deeply (without getting a mouthful of mask every time).
This is what choirs all over the world are doing in order to keep singing while also keeping their singers safe. We’re thrilled to be joining their ranks.
What I see straight ahead when I walk out our office door.
It always takes time to settle into a new space and really make it yours, so even though I’m happy with our new office space, it’s got a ways to go on the inside.
On the outside, however, all is perfection and beauty!
We really couldn’t have made the move at a more perfect time; it’s like nature is outdoing herself to welcome us to our new space.
Looking to the right as I exit our office.Looking to the left as I exit our office.What I see from my office chair when I turn around and look out the window.
One day of fasting and one morning back to walking, and I feel completely transformed!
And that’s after a good three weeks of whooping it up (food-wise), while walking less and less until I had stopped altogether for about a week.
It’s amazing what my mind can put me through in times like that. It wants me to believe I’ve been “bad” forever; that I’ve probably undone all the good of the previous months; that it’s going to be really hard to start walking or fasting or eating well again.
Well, absolutely none of that was true (take that, lizard mind!).
Fasting was easier than ever; it felt ever so good to walk this morning; and I’ve slipped back into my eating program without a single hitch — no cravings, no resistance, no nothing.
What gives?
Well, I think part of it is that just the intention of getting back on track was wholeheartedly embraced by my entire being as a return to self-love. It’s like everything in me relaxed with a big “Aahhh, we’re being cared for the way we like.”
And the speed with which my body responded to my return to fasting, walking, and eating better, tells me just how happy doing these things makes me on a physical level.
My body didn’t have to re-adapt. It was simply ready and waiting for me to turn back around and head in the right direction.
So, I took a bit of a break from my healthy eating program for a while.
I chose not to write about it as it was happening. Basically, I was feeling the truth of “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
But now I’m close to finishing my first weekly fast in almost a month, grateful that it hasn’t been any harder than usual (phew!), and feeling ready to look at what happened.
Some of it was due to the (not unusual) “perfect storm” of stress, emotional eating, and going on vacation. But I realize another factor is that I got a little bored with my eating routine.
And that’s due not so much to having lots of restrictions, but rather to the fact that I don’t really want to be bothered with creative cooking. I mean, other people in my program post these awesome photos of delicious, tasty meals which I would gladly eat — if they just happened to magically appear on my table!
I think it’s a lingering side effect of my decades as a freelance musician in San Francisco.
My “at home” eating habits back then were pretty darn boring and routine (I could eat pasta and broccoli 4-5 times a week for months on end), but that was balanced by the fact that I ate out a great deal of the time.
Chinese food, taquerias, coffee houses, favorite breakfast spots…these and so much more were a huge part of what made living in San Francisco so fun. Then there was the fact that I was frequently eating on the way to gigs or at gigs.
There’s definitely not that kind of constant interest and variety around food in my life now, which is fine! I’m not really a “foodie” and I truly don’t want to go back to eating out constantly.
But I’m also not going to sweat the fact that, after seven months of being amazingly consistent, I felt the urge to cut loose for a time.
The entire post (included below) by Rachel Macy Stafford is beautiful, but these last few lines really hit home for me…
Today is November 1st. Perhaps you’ve lived long enough to know what is likely to happen. The world is going to push you – no, body slam you – into the season, convincing you that you are behind before you have even begun. It is November 1, and you are not Already Behind. You are A Living Being. So, take a deep breath and savor each glorious bite of today.
Full disclosure, it brought me to tears.
Maybe because I’m already feeling totally behind on Christmas; on planning choir; on organizing the next Virtual Choir; on connecting with family and friends; on taking care of myself; and on and on and on it goes!
And, yeah, I know from past experience that this is just the start of crazy time.
But what I didn’t know — and what reading this post brought to my awareness — is just how much a part of me dreads the coming of crazy time.
Which is, well…crazy, because I want to be able to draw on the inspiration and grace that makes the holiday season so special and sacred, not be so harried and stressed that the blessings simply pass me by.
This timely post has given me some very important thoughts to ponder…
My daughter Avery asked me that question with a panic-stricken look upon her face.
She was six years old and about to dig into a giant sno-cone that we’d ridden our bikes a long way to enjoy.
But in order to enjoy it, Avery knew she needed to savor it. And the only thing stopping her from doing that was the pressure to hurry.
For the majority of Avery’s young life, I’d believed the lie—
• we are only as good as what we achieve • if it’s not on the to-do list, it holds no value • busy is a badge of honor • we simply don’t have time
It took me a moment to compose myself and respond to the earnest child staring up at me through her little pink glasses.
When I eventually found my voice, I said words I’d never uttered before.
“You don’t have to rush, baby—just take your time.”
My child had a visible reaction to these words. Her shoulders instantly relaxed and joyful relief spread across her face.
In that moment, something shifted inside me, and I recognized the truth:
• the best moments don’t happen in the when; they happen in the now • pausing for love is never wasted time • if we wait on the world to give us permission to stop – we never will • if we are too busy to live, what are we living for?
Today is November 1st. Perhaps you’ve lived long enough to know what is likely to happen. The world is going to push you – no, body slam you – into the season, convincing you that you are behind before you have even begun.
But now that you are aware of the lie, you can say to yourself, “You don’t have to rush, precious child.”
Life cannot be LIVED in a hurry. Oh, it can certainly be managed and endured that way, but you are here to LIVE your one, precious life.
It is November 1, and you are not Already Behind.
You are A Living Being.
So, take a deep breath and savor each glorious bite of today.
