the path ahead

Greetings faithful readers (Anyone still out there?!)

So, a big bright new chapter in my life seems to have begun. Graduation is now almost 3 weeks behind me, i’ve been working at the Welcome Center just over a month, i’m living in a new space since Nov. 4 which i’ve grown comfortable in, Sandy has been back at my side exactly two weeks now, and – while i’m marking time – it’s exactly a year to the day since i left Amsterdam.

Some things i’m attempting to focus on at this time in my life while holding down my no-pressure 35-hour-a-week gig at the WC, in no particular order:

· preparing to run the Redwoods Marathon in Oct. 2006 with my old high-school buddy Mike. Am looking to acquire Jeff Galloway’s book on marathon-training, as well as a new pair of running shoes;

· getting my twin-sized bed upgraded to at least full-size, although i haven’t ruled out a king or queen. Life is short but i’m not, and i like to sprawl a bit, and occasionally invite a special someone to spend the night, which is a bit awkward when your bed really only comfortably holds one;

· side-project after getting the mattress is having a loft for the bed constructed, which would leave some nice sprawling space for the pooch, or create room for a love-seat;

· i managed to get the 20^th of 20 movement (yoga or tai-chi) hours required for graduation on Nov. 2! Now i’m going to practice it regularly: from 7 to 8 am, Mondays and Wednesdays.

· it’s crazy to live at a massage school and not get bodywork. Additional goal: get at least one session (Swedish, shiatsu, whatever) a week, and

· in order to remain sharp in my own practice, give at least two sessions per week. Related to that will be brushing up on the little bit of Thai massage we were shown during the last two weeks of the program. i want to be able to put all of the movements together in a single session, which would probably last about two hours;

· re-launch the Activist-in-Residence program at Heartwood, which brings environmental activists on the edge of burn-out here for a free retreat, good meals and massages. With old-growth redwoods being cut as you’re reading this, i feel primed to do whatever i can to help bring this lunacy to an end;

· i also want to look into what it takes to become a tree-sitter. Getting the time from Heartwood to do such a thing would be one thing, but prior to that i would definitely need a lot of training in equipment; i want to learn more specifically too about what’s happening, the recent history of the movement, etc.

Well, that’ll give you a smattering of the kinds of things i’ll be up in the weeks and months ahead.

i’ve already launched a daily meditation practice: 10 minutes as soon as i get up, along with the lesson for the day, taken from A Course in Miracles. Today was lesson 5, which is i am never upset (anxious, afraid, depressed, angry, etc.) for the reason i think. The book fell into my hands some time ago, and the woman who gave it to me, a gal named Shannon from Kansas, is getting a massage from me Friday morning in return. Now that the harvest is over, she and her man Keith are leaving the area shortly to do some traveling. First stop, Ireland.

Sandy has really rebounded since i brought her from the farm Nov. 8, regaining some of her friskiness. She’s obviously so happy that we’re re-united, and i am relishing every moment we have together. As far as Heartwood goes, i’ve prepared a petition and have talked about it to a few students and staff who said they would be happy to sign it. And one of my spiritual practices these days is to not worry about what’s coming down the road. To just enjoy the present moment. Always good advice.

OK, 10:30 Tuesday night, time for this boy to kill the lights and crash. i’ll be up extra early tomorrow to walk Sandy and get cleaned up before making it across campus (no longer up the hill!) for 7-am yoga.

For my American readers i’ll close by wishing you all a blessed turkey day Nov. 24, which reminds me: i sent about a dozen of you a link to a Thanksgiving-related article that appeared Monday on the Common Dreams website. If you haven’t already seen it, you should give it a peek. Good food for thought, from a progressive perspective.

And for my non-American readers, well, you could give thanks that you don’t have George Bush f*cking up your country (unless of course you’re one of the poor souls living in Iraq or Afghanistan). How much longer till the impeachment gets under way, i keep wondering ...