Tag: 50th anniversary

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More about SF: the other Golden Gate

Yesterday I was remembering Golden Gate Park, but today’s photo is about memories of the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Yes, indeed! I was one of the hundreds of thousands of people walking on the bridge that day. But, no, we didn’t make it all the way across.

It’s hard to believe, but the organizers didn’t have the imagination to picture what would happen if people poured onto the bridge from both the north and the south without having designated north/south lanes.

In all fairness, they evidently also lacked the imagination to anticipate the vast numbers of people who would come out to participate in the event. According to the news video below, they expected 18,000-20,000 people to come out, but there were 300,000 instead.

(There were 300,000 on the bridge at the same time; they estimate that 800,000 pedestrians spent on the bridge before it was all over.)

The end result was the most amazing gridlock you can imagine, with more and more people entering from both sides even after there was no more room to maneuver in the center. I can’t recall just how many hours we were out there, but it was definitely the closest I’ve ever come to hysteria in my life.

Being short, I couldn’t see over all the people around me, which made me feel very claustrophobic. A few people fainted and were removed by being passed along over the top of the crowd.

Of course, this was before cell phones, so we were just out there — not knowing exactly what was going on or what (if anything) was being done about it. I would feel the anxiety and agitation of the crowd gradually inching up to something close to panic, but then someone would call out a joke or some sort of reassuring words. I don’t remember exact words, but it would be enough to make people laugh and connect and bring the anxiety level down a few notches.

In fact, I agree with what someone shared in the video comments: “i was there, i was stuck in the middle. it was scary AF in the gridlock, but i’ll say one thing, it was all love. there was no violence, people helped each other out.”

It was definitely a beautiful San Francisco moment.

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Remember!

It’s been just over a month since the end of The Week That Was (aka Ananda’s 50th anniversary/Temple dedication). In a meeting earlier this week we were discussing a potential future event and whether it was going to be “too much”. Then one of the meeting attendees said something along the lines of “if we could do the 50th, we can do anything!”

And it’s true that we stretched way out of our comfort zones and established what we’ve been referring to as “a new normal”, which has higher standards and a much higher set point than what we were accustomed to B.T.F. (Before The Fiftieth). 🙂

So, yeah. If we could achieve the 50th, we can do anything…IF we keep reminding ourselves about what we accomplished. Which is a pretty big if because it’s easy to forget. To slip back into old, comfortable ways of doing, thinking, being.

It reminds me of a long ago life experience that also changed my set point: (literally) walking on fire! I won’t go into all the boring details, but I walked on something like twenty feet worth of hot coals. It was so amazing that I snuck to the back of the line and did it a second time!

Later a part of me tried to downplay it: “maybe the coals weren’t that hot” kind of thoughts. But I knew better…

During a trip to the beach when I was in high school, someone put out a campfire by covering it with sand, and I had the misfortune of stepping on it. To this day I remember thinking that I finally understood the phrase “walking into a nest of hornets” because it hurt so bad.

On the drive home I had to sit with my foot in an ice chest, followed by a visit to the hospital to treat the blistering, which took about a week to heal. And that was the result of one second’s worth of one foot coming into contact with hot coals.

But here’s the point. There have been plenty of times in the ensuing decades when I have felt fearful and powerless and limited. And what I wish is that I had made a concerted effort to remember — every single day — that I broke through my fears and accomplished something seemingly impossible.

And that’s what I hope we’ll do with our 50th anniversary experience: just remember!

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The next 50

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the “aftershocks” of the 50th anniversary. I think our friend, Arudra, from Ananda Assisi found the words to express what many us have been feeling…

He said in a Facebook post:
“Being in that magnetism together seemed like being at the center of a nuclear explosion of divine energy the effects of which will be felt for years to come. It was like Master and Swami were celebrating the first 50 years and at the same time setting up the next 50 within each one of us.“

Are you beginning to have a sense of what’s been “set up” for the next 50 years within you? I am! 🙂

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All aboard!

There have been moments this week when I’ve wondered if I was overdoing the “recovery mode” thing and whether I shouldn’t be a little quicker in getting back to “normal”.

Thankfully, I’ve pretty much got my energy back, but my thinking is still rather fuzzy. It feels good to sort through my 50th anniversary planning materials, throwing out old notes and deleting emails. And I’m happy to be slowly catching up on tasks that were pushed aside amidst 50th anniversary busyness.

But lurking right below the surface is a subtle sense of urgency. I’ve got a feeling that last week’s event served as a catalyst for new projects and undertakings, which have somehow gotten well underway without us knowing exactly what they are (of course, Master and Swamiji know!). And now we’ve got to figure out what those projects and undertakings are and get caught up to them; like being the engineer on a train that’s left the station without us! 🙂

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Life Mantra (part 1)

During last August’s Spiritual Renewal Week, we were in the still under-construction Temple of Light for an event which included some spontaneous singing. Afterwards, a choir friend commented that she felt the inspiration that Life Mantra should be the first piece of music performed in the completed Temple.

Swami Kriyananda said about Life Mantra: “I was inspired to write this music while musing on the topic of choirs of angels. Suddenly, words and music came pouring over me like a waterfall of sound.” Also known as Chant of the Angels, Life Mantra is eleven-minutes long; an a cappella choral piece that presents our Ananda choir(s) with many challenges of intonation and stamina. It was a beautiful idea, but those of us planning the music for the 50th anniversary and Temple dedication events couldn’t really see where it would fit in or how we could pull it off.

So we just let the idea go, but as time went by things shifted and changed and shifted again. And, all of a sudden, Life Mantra was the absolute perfect choice of music for the “Welcoming the Light” opening event–the very first event in the brand new Temple of Light!

(to be continued…)

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My cup overfloweth…

I have loved and appreciated Ananda–the teachings, the people, the communities, the culture, the music–for two full decades. But this past week saw my love and appreciation for all things Ananda soar to new heights!

The 50th anniversary/Temple of Light dedication week was awe-inspiring, transformational, life changing, intense, moving, profound, fun, high energy, and exhausting. Now I’m looking forward to catching up on rest and finding time to integrate the experience.

Jai Guru! Jai Swamiji! Jai Ananda!

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Good news, bad news

The good news is I’m enjoying the flow of writing this blog.

The bad news is…I’m enjoying the flow of writing this blog! The problem is I tend to write at night, which means I’m getting to bed later and later.

But the 50th anniversary officially kicks off tomorrow and if I begin the week already exhausted I’m going to be very sorry! Therefore…I’ll just say “good night”!

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Becoming real

Can’t think about anything except the 50th and the Temple.

Well, that’s not entirely true…I do still manage to think of God and Guru occasionally throughout the day! 🙂

But today was bookended by the Temple: helped unload the new “meditation” chairs this morning and finished the day with a choir rehearsal in Wisdom classroom (part of the Temple complex). In between were emails and meetings and phone calls and copious details–all about the 50th and the Temple!

It’s becoming more and more real every day.

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Counting the days!

We’re no longer counting weeks until the 50th anniversary. We’re counting days. As in ten days from tomorrow (gulp!).

But you know what? Divine Mother really does have our back! Today I received–completely out of the blue–the most beautiful, generous, incredible offer of help imaginable, from someone who’s coming to the 50th and wants to serve.

Believe me, I said YES! so fast it made my head spin, because I want Divine Mother, God, the Universe, All That Is to see just how open and receptive I am.

This brings to mind a line from a prayer-poem of Yogananda’s that my husband and I have been working with for some time now:

“When you do your part and rely on God to do His, you will find that mysterious forces come to your aid and that all your constructive wishes soon materialize.”

Maybe my friend from the East Coast isn’t a “mysterious force” but she’s definitely coming to my aid. And I’m extremely grateful.

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Surf’s up!

Less than two weeks to go to the 50th and I feel like I’m swimming in an ocean of details… which day; which event; how many singers; how many chairs; what songs; which languages; logistics of a new venue; instrumentals; what to wear; booklet of lyrics; ad infinitum!

Sometimes I feel like, rather than swimming, I’m drowning in that ocean of details, which is my cue to remember the difference between swimming and surfing (not that I’ve ever surfed, but I think I understand the basic concept!).

So I crawl up onto my surfboard of knowing that God is the Doer and Divine Mother is in charge. I do my best to negotiate the waves of details through attunement with that higher reality and then I can start enjoying the thrill of the ride.