(not necessarily in that order)
What a joy it was having lunch with Chika, who serves on the staff of Ananda New Delhi and just completed the month-long Living Discipleship program at the Meditation Retreat.
Originally from Japan, Chika is one of our key music people in India. I’m so glad we had a chance to get to know her better and exchange thoughts and ideas about the music, before she returns to the other side of the world on Saturday!
I’m meeting’d and computered out.
Yes, I know that’s not correct English, but it perfectly describes how I’m feeling.
In fact, I worked through lunch, snacking later on rice cakes and a little peanut butter. So, I’m also really hungry for dinner.
Bottom line? I don’t have the bandwidth or the brain power to write anything creative.
I was in a bit of a slump this morning. Just having a really hard time getting going.
After a bit, Ramesha left for the office, while I sat at the table trying to get up the energy to stop scrolling and start doing.
But then I happened upon a video of the composer (and flutist, which I never knew), Meredith Willson, explaining his non-rhyming lyrics to the song “Trouble” from The Music Man.
Well, The Music Man was one of my favorite musicals growing up, so after watching the video I had to listen to the version from the movie. Then I had to listen to the rest of the movie soundtrack (for the first time in decades).
The funny thing is that while I was listening I started doing a few things. Making the bed. Folding and hanging up some clothes. Putting away books. You get the idea.
But what’s really interesting is that when it got to the “Ya Got Trouble & Seventy-Six Trombones” point in the soundtrack, I jumped up and started dancing and marching around the room!
It’s like the music just forced me up and about, and I suddenly felt so happy!
I’m sure it was a matter of joyous childhood memories combined with the happy, upbeat melody and rhythm. But whatever it was, I was just glad to finally feel my energy moving again.
I got such a chuckle out of this!
Of course, even though I never raised a child, many were the times that I made coffee, then got caught up in a project and completely forgot about it.
So, it’s really a recipe for busy people, period!
A number of factors contributed to last night being the worst night’s sleep I’ve had in ages.
First of all, we had been out to dinner, so it took a while to settle down and let the food digest, etc. The end result being that I didn’t get to bed until fairly late.
Secondly, it’s still been really hot — which never helps.
And finally, it was a full moon!
All in all, I slept just a little more than three hours. Functioning during Sunday service was definitely a struggle.
Today we were productive in the social arena.
In the morning we had delicious chai at the home of friends with whom we had been attempting to connect for six months or so. At long last, mission accomplished! And it was a thoroughly fun and delightful visit with the two of them plus their adorable children.
Then this evening we went to town for an Italian pizza dinner with another friend. Again, delightful and fun (and delicious!).
I also accomplished various tasks that needed doing around the house. All in all an active but relaxed day.
First of all, I managed to transfer a lot of reminders into an online task list (it feels so great throwing away the little slips of paper!).
Then I researched and selected some possible Mind Map-type templates for capturing and organizing the Big Ideas that have been floating around my brain. Those ideas often feel vague and overwhelming; my hope is to ground them by getting them written down.
I even uploaded a bunch of photos from Dad’s birthday party into the shared photo album!
All in all, I’m feeling cautiously hopeful that I’ve turned a corner…and have returned to a more productive frame of mind and energy flow.
The Joy Singers started recording a new Christmas album last March and we’re returning to the studio soon to do the second half.
Crystal Clarity Publishers will be launching it sometime in November. Considering how much remains to be done after the recording process is complete — mastering, artwork, graphic design, marketing, promotions, etc. — time is already of the essence. ⌛
So, yes — we’re very much feeling the Spirit of Christmas even in the heat of July.
Had dinner tonight with my friend, Eileen, who I’ve known since junior high school.
I believe we first met in Miss Jewett’s music appreciation class (where I learned that “Mozart” is spelled with only one “t”). We were in many other classes together as well, particularly band (she played French horn).
As I started to write this I realized that we met in 1968. Amazing!
It was a crazy time but we were too young to really comprehend all the big changes that were going on around us. Riots in Berkeley and SF State University were something one saw on the news. The Summer of Love meant T-shirts with hearts and stylized daisies. Oh, and incense purchased on a field trip to San Francisco!
We were young and innocent in a way that really wouldn’t be possible today. We went to school; worried about whether boys would ever like us; and got good grades.
The only way to see a movie was in the theater. Phones stayed at home, connected to the wall by cords. We used encyclopedias for research; checked out books from the library; and wrote everything longhand.
We also thought the whole “drug” thing was greatly exaggerated. After all, we never saw any drugs.
And now — all of a sudden, it seems — we’re discussing whether to go to our 50th high school reunion. How is that even possible? 🤷♀️
One of our friends is in the process of moving — with his wife and two small children — away from Ananda Village to live near our community outside Seattle.
As a parting gift, he shared the following story (originally written a couple of years ago). I’m sharing it here on my blog because he so beautifully and eloquently captured the essence of living at Ananda Village.
(I’ve replaced the names with initials, since I’m not sure if everyone is comfortable being named in a public blog. 😄)
Downtown Ananda Village is the social center of a small spiritual community, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Surrounded by hills, from any direction in the Village one literally drives down into it to arrive at one of the destinations there such as those perennial places of pilgrimage, the mailroom and the market.
In a storm last weekend, a tree fell — and as I drove into the downtown area, what do I see but a bright yellow tractor against the deep green and brown of the tallest tree I’ve ever seen downed. Someone I know must be driving the tractor, the Village being what it is, but I can’t quite see who they are. The sky is beautiful and sunny, and I almost stop to take a picture. On my left are the pickleball players — celebrating a new pastime at the Village, and I pass them on my way in.
In the mailroom, I hear someone talking outside with N–. Who is it? I don’t recognize their voice. They are going on, kind of ranting, and N– is listening and just giving them energy. It’s the postal worker, I see as I come out. She asks about his hours and he shares how he used to work for money and now it doesn’t seem so important. “Of course!” she says, affirming this expansive understanding he’s developing. It’s God’s kindness that she shares, by listening, and you can tell that she cares. And I think of it all as I walk away.
In the market, I see S–, joyfully willing to help me find the pumpkin pie spice on my shopping list. It’s the same with P– — and they are laughing; I can’t remember why, but the feeling of it stays with me. The person checking out the groceries, a math teacher, adds up the totals in his head. To have such joy in the midst of service; to be consciously engaged in what one does, even in the checkout line. I think of it all, and carry it with me.
Back in the car, I start driving home. I pass R– on my right, a person who, more than anyone I’ve ever known, is always ready to share a smile and a laugh. There’s a utility worker nearby and I watch as he changes direction, making a detour to talk to the visitor. The way he does this makes me wonder: perhaps the only reason is just to share joy, because this person is here and because joy wants to be shared. That idea fits with what I know of R–. And I think of this.
As I reach the tree, it all comes together. I see that P–, a long-time meditator, is the driver of the tractor, and one of the monks is helping him; I see a neighbor walking with her friend, just reaching them, where they talk together. I see that everyone is here for joy, everyone is sharing joy — and more than that, everyone is joy.
Joy is the air we breathe and the river in which we swim. It’s taking the perfect drive through downtown Ananda Village, with the walkers laughing with P– on the tractor, the pickleball players, the visitors — and I think of S– and P–, N– — and I think of my guru, choreographing this moment.
I have nothing I can add to it; I cannot capture it with a photo, or deepen it with a conversation, so I simply drive through it, this ideal everyday expression of a spiritual community — simple living and high thinking, for God in ourselves and in each other.
Go with love, Nabha and family. 💖