“Choose joy” has been my chosen mantra many, many times throughout the years. But I love the additional wisdom contained in these words…and the photo simply says it all!
We started the day off feeling deeply inspired by Anandi’s Sunday service talk on Divine Love. Then we celebrated with French toast for lunch, followed by opening our Valentine’s cards and simply chatting for a while.
It was the sort of cold and gloomy day that’s perfect for getting cozy with a movie, so in the afternoon we watched the 1997 Cinderella featuring Whitney Houston and a whole slew of other great movie actors. I had barely heard of it before a few days ago, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.
However, it got me thinking about another version of the same musical, so…! With the patient indulgence of my wonderful husband (and after a delicious tortellini and broccoli dinner) we watched Cinderella again — this time the 1957 live television version with a very young Julie Andrews.
It was an altogether enjoyable, relaxing, and love-filled day. 💝
Doing something is always better than doing nothing.
While studying at the SF Conservatory of Music I struggled to establish consistent practice habits (and, yes, consistency in all my practices has been a lifelong issue). I’ll never forget the lesson in which my flute teacher expressed his frustration with me by saying: “Just get the flute to your lip once a day!”
In other words, don’t focus on the hours of practicing I needed to do; just get the flute to my lip…for two notes. A scale. One phrase of a piece. Consistency.
Then there was the mentor who suggested a similar thing for exercise: “Just put the shoes on and get out the door…” For half a block. For a block. For a mile. Consistency.
When I started a serious meditation practice the struggle was just as real as ever. So I told myself: “Just get your butt in the chair!” For five minutes. Ten minutes. Thirty minutes. Consistency.
It’s never gotten easy for me, but if I do it….it works!
I had no idea what Disney Plus was until I read a review for the new Pixar movie, “Soul,” and learned that Disney Plus was the only way to see it.
After a quick Google search to educate myself, I decided that it would be well worth signing up for the streaming platform just for that one movie alone. Then we got busy and “Soul” slipped off my radar…until tonight.
Which is an example of divine timing, because it was the absolute perfect ending to a challenging week, being literally what my soul needed.
What can I say? It’s not just that it’s all so extremely well done. It’s also that virtually every aspect of the story held a deep resonance for me — from band class and jazz clubs to metaphysics and family relationships — it all rang true.
And when it was over, I felt drained in that special way that happens when a movie really takes you on a journey, and you come back having had an experience that changed you from the inside out.
I’m always a little surprised, yet deeply comforted, when I “own up” to my low moments and then receive so much loving support and encouragement in return. I have the world’s best network of friends, for whom I am so very, very grateful!
One of those friends reminded me about the astrological perspective. Which brought to mind a quote from my astrologer friend, Drupada: “It’s just astrological weather.”
Yep. And like the physical weather, it can be messy and inconvenient and scary at times, but it passes. 🌈
Ramesha posted this photo last Sunday, in honor of the day — seventeen years ago! — when he asked me to marry him. I was focused on other things this past weekend, but it was such a sweet post (and so many people shared loving comments!) that I didn’t want to let it pass me by.
So, here goes yet another walk down memory lane…
As of the end of October we were officially “an item,” but spending time together wasn’t so easy, with me either serving at Ananda Assisi or touring with the Italy singers, while he worked in Lugano.
We managed to get together a couple of times in November, me taking the train to Lugano and him driving to where the singers were spending a weekend near Torino. This was also the month when Swami Kriyananda made the decision to move to India, which had us all in a certain amount of shock.
By this time, it was clear that I wouldn’t be joining Ramesha and other dear friends on the pilgrimage to India, so we had to accept the reality of spending our first Christmas and New Year’s apart. I made another train trip to Lugano in mid-December so we could celebrate our Christmas early; we were both pretty sad but did our best to look ahead to when I would travel north again to see him on his return.
He encountered flight delays, so I actually got to Lugano before he did and was able to welcome him home. My vacation time was only supposed to last two weeks, but was extended indefinitely due to the completely unexpected but quite serious legal drama being played out at the community in Assisi.
Though greatly concerned for our spiritual family, we couldn’t help feeling grateful for the opportunity — finally! — to spend a whole month together. In fact, as the weeks went by our relationship just got better in every way.
The singers had performances near Torino planned for Valentine’s weekend, so the plan was that Ramesha would drive me there, then I would go back to Assisi with the group.
I’ll never forget the Sunday before our planned departure. We had finished meditation, then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. I was still in my comfortable but rather sloppy meditation T-shirt and leggings as we sat at the table talking; speaking of our hopes and dreams; and sharing deeply spiritual thoughts.
There was a sense of profound connection. Then Ramesha made a frustration kind of sound, said he’d be right back, returned with a little red box, and asked me to marry him. Just like that. He said his plan was to propose the following week on Valentine’s Day, but he just couldn’t wait.
At the time I was playing on a handmade silver Haynes flute. It wasn’t worth $22,000 dollars (I have to say, I’ve never understood the need for a gold flute!), but $2,000 back in the mid-70’s was still a lot of money for a college student.
I had taken the bus from De Anza College to the intersection of Stevens Creek Blvd and Wolfe Rd, where I sat on the grass while waiting to transfer to the bus that would take me the rest of the way to my apartment in Sunnyvale.
I set purse, books, and flute next to me on the grass as I waited. We were about halfway to my stop when I realized that I didn’t have my flute. Panic!
My first impulse was to jump off the bus and run back, but I was a good mile away by that time. So I quickly reasoned that it would be faster to continue home and get my bicycle for a faster return.
I ran home as fast as I could…and found my mother waiting for me on the doorstep. She had taken transit to come and visit but, of course, I wasn’t very welcoming — especially because as I went to get my bicycle I suddenly remembered that my brother, who shared the apartment with me, had borrowed it that day. Double panic!
In desperation I called a friend who dropped everything to give me a ride back to the bus stop, where I found two boys waving the case at me and calling, “Is this yours?” It was clear that they had opened it to check out what was inside, but nothing was damaged or missing (just a little sticky from their fingerprints).
I didn’t have any money to give them as a reward, and knew they would not have welcomed an appreciative hug, so I simply expressed my fervent thanks and resolved to never set my flute (on its own) next to me ever again.
The problem is that flutes are small and the case is almost always black. What you eventually learn to do is have a flute bag, in which the flute lives, because it’s a lot harder to overlook a big bag!
It surprises me that the young man from Boston hasn’t learned that lesson yet. His story did have a happy ending, but it was a close call. The person who found his $22,000 flute tried to pawn it and it was only thanks to the sharp intuition and quick thinking of the pawn shop owner that he was eventually reunited with his instrument. However, he first had to endure days of what must have been agonized waiting!
After spending the past few days reminiscing about flute playing, I was surprised to hear from a friend who wants to get back into playing and wondered if I had any suggestions for a starter flute. Not having taught regularly in almost twenty years, I did a quick Google search.
Well, it was quite illuminating! Yes, there were a few brands I remembered from back in the day (like Gemeinhardt and Yamaha), though the majority were companies I had never heard of.
But the real eye-opener was finding out that student flutes now come in colors! And you can buy them made of plastic! This is all wonderful, of course — I’m sure parents are thrilled to be able to find truly inexpensive flutes that a grade schooler can’t easily destroy. It’s just that I never could have imagined it, that’s all.
Fabio (aka Ramesha) as lead singer of the band, Reload.
Once Ramesha and I had clicked musically and romantically, things progressed rather quickly.
I was still touring with the Italy singers, while he was in Lugano teaching middle school music. Sometimes I would take the train to Switzerland, while other times he would drive to meet the group when we had performances in northern Italy.
But by March of 2004 the touring group had disbanded and I relocated from Ananda Assisi to Lugano. I did have a few qualms, I must admit. While I didn’t doubt our relationship, I was rather disconcerted to learn that there was no spiritual community in Lugano. Plus Ramesha wasn’t even interested in living in community, while I had never expected to live outside one ever again! Hmm…
Then there was the fact that he was the lead singer in a rock band. That took a while for me to wrap my mind around for sure! But I trusted in Divine Mother’s plan for me and I’m grateful every day that I did.
