(not necessarily in that order)
How cool is this?!?
Congratulations to Manisha, who’s been a dear friend ever since we both were newly arrived in the Ananda Palo Alto community back in the late 90’s.
I can’t wait to read it (there are two copies because one’s for Dad).
“Outer order contributes to inner calm.” –Gretchen Rubin
This is the quote I saw on my Momentum Dash screen this morning while searching my office files for some sheet music we need for the upcoming Spiritual Renewal Week concert.
I resonated deeply with this statement, especially since I could feel my inner calm fraying around the edges as I considered having to change the program because I couldn’t locate the parts. Not a good feeling. 🤦♀️
But I had also experienced this in the first week after returning home from our trip.
I was dealing with jet lag; a bad cough; unpacked luggage; leftover travel gear; dirty laundry; and the naturally occurring “out-of-orderliness” of having had a houseguest in the apartment for almost two months.
It all felt like chaos.
The end result was that I felt virtually paralyzed for the first four or five days, and not just in practical terms. I also felt like I couldn’t think or plan or settle.
I believe the breakthrough came when I simply had to do pressing tasks like laundry (or not have clothes to wear!). As I — bit-by-bit — established some order, I was able to — bit-by-bit — access my inner calm.
P.S. Not to worry, by the way! We did locate the sheet music. 😅
I was really struck by this photo and quote that Ramesha posted to Facebook today:
LOVE NEUTRALIZES FEAR…
“All doubt, despair, and fear become insignificant once the intention of life becomes love.” –Rumi
It got me reflecting on what is the intention of my life? And I realized that there truly can be only one correct answer: LOVE.
I wonder what would change, what would feel different if each morning I were to affirm that “the intention of my life is love.”
The intention of my life is love. ❤
Today I felt like I was approaching 100 percent.
I managed to fully participate in our weekly music meeting, address a number of organizational tasks, and write a number of important (and time-sensitive) emails.
Yay, me! 🥳
A big piece of the puzzle fell into place today, namely….laundry!
I really wasn’t looking forward to tackling five loads worth of dirty clothes; in fact, I only completed four out of the five. But it still felt like a major accomplishment.
I also was finally able to get the latest booster (the bivalent vaccine), which feels really good.
And, finally, progress is being made on music preparations for Spiritual Renewal Week. All in all, a good day.
I’m pretty much over jet lag and starting to feel physically normal.
I’m also functional in terms of work — singing for Sunday service; catching up on emails; making decisions about Spiritual Renewal Week; and initiating new projects.
But regardless, I can’t seem to get the pieces of my life to fit back together. It’s a very strange and disorienting feeling.
My voice is a little out of shape — it’s been two months, after all! — and my lingering cough didn’t help matters.
But what a joy to be singing for Sunday service again!
Today was Ananda Village’s belated Rajarsi Day, one of the high points in our community year.
I actually managed to participate a little, despite still feeling rather tired and spacey. And it was lovely seeing so many of my fellow residents.
Later I had to sort of force myself to write some time sensitive emails. Plenty of resistance.
But the consistent thread through it all — for the entire day and into the night — was feeling foggy.
This was a down-the-rabbit-hole kind of night which started when I read an announcement that one of our friends got a new job working for Born Free USA.
Of course, the song “Born Free” immediately started playing in my mind. It’s the theme song for the movie “Born Free“, which came out when I was around ten years old. I had to immediately research whether there was a connection with Born Free USA, and there was!
Then I had to listen to more songs by Matt Monro, the English singer who performed the movie theme song — what a voice!
Then I had to read more about Joy and George Adamson, the real-life couple who raised Elsa, an orphaned lion cub, and then had to train her to survive in the wild in order to avoid committing her to a zoo.
Then I forced myself to stop so I could write about it all in this blog post. 😅
SONG LYRICS
Born free
As free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart
Live free
And beauty surrounds you
The world still astounds you
Each time you look at a star
Stay free
Where no walls divide you
You’re free as a roaring tide so there’s no need to hide
Born free
And life is worth living
But only worth living
‘Cause you’re born free
[Songwriter: John Barry]
I was pondering and pondering what to write tonight, but my jetlagged brain simply wouldn’t cooperate.
So I ended up scrolling through Facebook for inspiration and found this absolutely wonderful quote by Swami Kriyananda.
How comforting that the key to overcoming doubt is dwelling on the thought of how much God loves us.
It also reminds me of another deeply inspiring quote, this one by the French saint, Jean Vianney: “If you knew how much God loves you, you would die for joy!”