(not necessarily in that order)
I don’t have real photographic capabilities, but I still can’t resist trying to capture beautiful moments like this.
Venus, the brightest planet in our solar system, shines more brilliantly than any of the actual stars in the sky.
Isn’t she beautiful?
I had an urge for a kombucha the other day and came upon GT’s Synergy fall edition flavor, titled: Living in Gratitude.
So, let me start off by sharing how grateful I am that — in the midst of all the crazy stuff going on in the world — this company is committed to expressing beautiful, positive, and uplifting ideals (see below for what is written on the bottle).
As of now, GT’s Synergy is officially my favorite brand of kombucha!
The Gift of the Present
I’ve found that when we dwell on what could have been, and wait for what could be, we take the present for granted. Living in gratitude unleashes joy in the now and nourishes your soul. In this one precious life we are given, may you favor the blessings in front of you and pay them forward with kindness. — GT Dave, Founder
Prayer of Gratitude
In this present moment, may grace envelop you and open your heart wide to the here and now. In this sacred space, may gratitude grow inside you and reveal the profound beauty of life.
Affirmation
I open my eyes to gratitude, by opening my heart to love. I am rooted in this practice, for its generosity knows no bounds.
I’m clearly no photographer but I just had to at least try to capture tonight’s moon.
So beautiful.
Yesterday was pedicure time, so I spent about an hour in the chair at Jivani’s (my friend, neighbor, and aesthetician) while she made my toes beautiful.
Although she usually has Ananda Music playing, yesterday she was taking a break from Radio Ananda and listening to an all-classical guitar radio station. I didn’t tune into it so much at first, but bit by bit it grabbed my attention.
I finally made a comment along the lines of, “Wow, this is a really good guitarist!” I might have commented on the intonation, the facility, the expressivity, etc.
Then I was curious to know who this “really good” guitarist was, so I used the Shazam app on my phone and discovered that it was none other than Andrés Segovia, who ranks first on all the lists of “greatest classical guitarists of all time.”
The piece I heard was Castillos de España by Federico Moreno Torroba. All eight movements are delightful but 2. Torija (Elegía) just knocks my socks off. It’s so beautiful I can’t help crying as I listen to it.
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.
This afternoon’s wedding was glorious and beautiful, but we were really pooped afterwards.
So…since “Harold and Maude” has still been rattling around in my brain, I think I’ll share some of my favorite “Maude” quotes. To be perfectly honest, for the longest time Maude is who I wanted to be when I grew up!
Maude: The earth is my body; my head is in the stars.
[pauses] Who said that, Harold?
Harold: I don’t know.
Maude: Well, I suppose I did, then.
Harold: Maude.
Maude: Hmm?
Harold: Do you pray?
Maude: Pray? No. I communicate.
Harold: With God?
Maude: With life.
Harold: You sure have a way with people.
Maude: Well, they’re my species!
Maude: That was fun! Let’s play something together.
Harold: I don’t play anything.
Maude: Nothing? Dear me, everybody should be able to make some music. That’s the cosmic dance.
Maude: I like to watch things grow. They – grow and bloom and fade and die and change into something else. Ah, life!
Maude: I should like to change into a sunflower most of all. They’re so tall and simple. What flower would you like to be?
Harold: I don’t know. One of these, maybe.
Maude: Why do you say that?
Harold: Because they’re all alike.
Maude: Oooh, but they’re not. Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have lost some petals. All kinds of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world’s sorrow comes from people who are this,
[she points to a daisy]
Maude: yet allow themselves be treated as that.
[she gestures to a field of daisies; cut to a shot of a field of gravestones in a military cemetery]
A successful evening and another beautiful Oratorio under our proverbial belt.
Kudos to director, choir, soloists, instrumentalists, audio-video-lighting teams, refreshments crew, and all the other helpers.
And — though we’re completely at home in the Temple of Light by now (after all, it’s been close to five years!) — I have to stop for a moment of gratitude for Panduranga, the wonderful architect who designed the Temple. On nights like tonight the blessing of getting to perform regularly in this amazing building hits me all over again.
Feeling so grateful to all the great souls who helped make both the Inner Renewal and Kriyaban Retreats so powerfully inspiring and incredibly deep.
At some point — hopefully in the not-too-far-distant future — I’ll share photos of the various events, places, and experiences that have filled the past three weeks or so.
In the meantime, this is our current home-away-from-home: Villaggio Turistico Reka in Sureggio (Lugano).
We don’t have amazing, expansive views like in Aldesago, but it’s much more conveniently located in relation to Ramesha’s father. And it’s still quite beautiful, just in a different way.
First full day completed and loving every moment so far.
It’s time for dinner, then some quiet reading, followed by meditation and bed.
I could get used to this!