We only had two days in LA — arriving Friday evening, spending all day Saturday at Yogananda Fest, then getting on the road back to Ananda Village directly from lunch after Sunday service at Ananda Los Angeles — but it was enough to feel truly reconnected with our SoCal spiritual family and even with Los Angeles itself.
It was great seeing longtime devotees from when we lived there from 2010-2013, but equally wonderful meeting so many recently arrived folks who immediately felt like soul friends.
Throughout the weekend I felt like I was sort of “checking off” certain key experiences — the iconic skyline at Hollywood and Vine as glimpsed from the freeway; scores of palm trees; the constant sound of traffic; a man dressed in a suit decorated with a peacock feather pattern; the (brief) appearance of a cockroach during Sunday service(!) — which, when taken altogether, added up to feeling LA in my mind and heart.
It was funny how I could even enjoy being in traffic, knowing that it was only for a couple of days!
I also had a nostalgic moment when I saw this sign inside the Ananda LA center, hanging above the door to the sanctuary. Someone (I don’t remember who) had made it for our first Ananda LA ashram in West Hollywood.
We couldn’t use it at the entrance to the house because, as it was a residential area, the zoning laws meant we couldn’t represent ourselves as an official “center.”
But it was a lovely sign, so we used it indoors. It’s lovely to see it still in use.
