I mean, from the perspective of the present moment I’m really — and I mean really — glad that we made the decision to stay home this fall.
I say that largely because all the rest of our music team members are in the midst of flux and change and challenge right now.
From an imminent knee surgery to helping an elderly parent move to a new state, and from touring Europe with Asha to an extended visit to India…there’s going to be a whole lot of coming and going!
So, I’m grateful and content to help hold down the fort for a change.
I always find Ananda’s Sunday service to be inspiring, but some weeks it is so deeply inspiring that I feel fully recalibrated by the end.
Today was one of those Sunday services, and it was just what I needed — exactly when I needed it! (Not to mention the lingering impact of the uplifting Sevaka Retreat that took place the day before.)
I’m so grateful to be starting Spiritual Renewal Week with a renewed awareness of — and strengthened commitment to — living my life in service to God.
I especially love the words in this portion of the Festival of Light that we hear every Sunday:
Many times has that light descended, Drawn to earth by the call of aspiring love. Your chosen people have always been Those of every race and nation Who, with deep love, chose Thee.
(The minister lifts the candle aloft with both hands to symbolize this choice.) Please pray with me:
O Lord, With all my heart, With all my mind, With all my soul, And with all my strength I choose Thy love, I choose only Thee.
It’s been a full day with many tasks accomplished (emails, meetings, laundry, practicing, rehearsal), but I’m most pleased about the fact that I finally finished reading and responding to all my birthday greetings.
It’s so fun to tune in — however briefly — to friends from all the different eras of my life: high school buddies; classmates at university and conservatory; professional musician colleagues; fellow seekers from different spiritual congregations; and those I met while living in other countries.
It leaves me feeling more grateful than ever for the rich and varied life I’ve been blessed to lead.
This Father’s Day I’m thinking about both my Dad and my Mom.
Yesterday — the day before Father’s Day — was the 30th anniversary of my mother’s passing. It boggles my mind how so much time can have gone by already.
Thinking of you with love, Mom. And feeling more grateful than words can express that my Dad is still with us.
The route we traveled on Tuesday is the blue line that cuts directly through the flooded region!
It was raining really hard as we drove up the A-1 on Tuesday, but we had no idea just how much rain the region was getting until reading about the flooding, evacuations, and deaths this morning.
I’m extremely grateful that we decided to stick to our departure date, rather than delaying by even a day.
Our guardian angels were definitely looking out for us.
We’ve really enjoyed our stay here at the Utoring complex in Aldesago, but it’s time to say goodbye — to this little apartment and to the expansive view of Lugano and the distant mountains.
Day after tomorrow we’ll say goodbye to Lugano itself for a little over a week while we visit Italy; first Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre, then Ananda Assisi.
I had every intention of writing thank you notes (and this “thank you” update) before leaving for my weeklong ayurvedic healing retreat at Blue Sage Sanctuary, but for a variety of reasons that didn’t happen.
However, as is so often the case, it’s actually better this way.
Why? Because if I had written before I actually experienced the retreat, I would have been expressing gratitude in the abstract: “I’m so grateful for the gifts that are enabling me to go on this retreat.”
And now? Well, now I can say with absolute conviction: “Your generous gifts helped to make possible one of the most profoundly transformative weeks of my life.” It was perfect in every way, and for every aspect of my being.
I had very little idea of what to expect from a weeklong panchakarma immersion. The two weeks beforehand were filled to overflowing with commitments and events, as well as a big snow storm that arrived just in time to complicate my even getting there. Needless to say, I was feeling a fair amount of stress by the time I arrived, but I could feel the palpable peace and serene beauty of the retreat environment helping me relax right from the start.
The daily Ayurveda consultations were deep, informative, insightful, and even fun, while the physical treatments ran the gamut from cleansing to relaxing to uplifting.
There isn’t time or space to share all that I felt and all that I learned; in short, it was altogether transformative. I’m more grateful than words can say.
