Finally Friday Week 21: Purging in Paradise

There's something I didn't mention. I came down with a pretty bad cold. The kind that keeps you in bed with a stack of Kleenex on your belly, a good book, cough drops—the works! Yes, you can get sick in paradise. I am :)

But the interesting thing is, I'm still enjoying my time here. Sure, night time is a bit rough with the coughing and such, but I usually feel a bit better during the daytime and have enough energy to go on one adventure. Luckily, I think the cold is on its final stretch to the finish line, thank goodness.

We are in the most gorgeous setting, so it's actually rather healing. We are way up in the hills of Kula at the base of the Mt. Haleakala farm sitting for friends. Yoon says my body is purging out all the impurities in this high vortex place. I'd like to look at it that way. It's given me an opportunity to slow down. In fact, whether I have a cold or not, this place makes you move very slow. It's not the kind of place where you are surrounded by tourists and you feel the need to check activities off a list.

Here, we feel we are not tourists. We are locals. I even went to the clinic here and Yoon drives a big truck that says Practice Aloha on the bumper. I have a CVS card and everyone thinks we are local.

This place calls us not to go out, but to sink in. It sings and vibrates and moves. A whirl of energy mixed with the fragrance of flowers, fluttering birds, trade winds from the coast, plants, vegetables, sun and light. It's really all about the light and the air and the stars. They make you stand still. You can't move. You don't remember what you planned to do, because you are just right here.

I'm right here.

No agenda.

Just wake up and see what happens.

And peacocks happened actually. We were up on the Hana Highway where we decided to stop off at Garden of Eden. We couldn't resist the name. Wow, what a gem of a place! The first thing I saw as we entered was a large male peacock. Peacocks have been on my mind for months now lately. The peacock began to follow me. Later we found a female and her baby and then the same thing happened. Around and around we went together near a picnic bench. I would think she'd want to protect her baby, but she wanted to scope me out. Maybe she was looking for food? I decided it was a sign. I needed a sign anyway. I decided that peacocks are my "spirit animal".

I looked it up online and it said that peacocks represent immortality and rebirth. They also represent royalty and prosperity. On a website called www.universeofsymbolism.com I read this quote: "With a peacock as your animal guide, he will tell you the power of believing that all things come in perfect timing, just trust the process and allow the Universe to do it's magic working on your behalf."

So with all this purging in paradise, perhaps I'm going through a kind of transformation. Maybe I'm becoming a peacock? No, in all seriousness, I do feel like something wants to work itself out of me. It could be just the cold, but I feel like it's a bit more than that. I feel I have been becoming a different person for a very long time, but I'm still holding on to old patterns and beliefs. These pull me down, really. So this purging, if I were to look at it metaphorically, really is a pulling out of who I used to be. It's not always easy to let that go. There's lots of fear in letting go of the identities we create.

I'm going to "trust the process," as the quote says. At times, up here, it feels like nothing is happening, but I know so much is going on. More than I can even comprehend.

365 Inspirations—301: Treat Yourself

Sunrise and cacti on way to Phoenix airport

Today is my birthday. I spent the entire day flying. We got up before the crack of dawn in Sedona and everyone piled in the car half asleep and we made the two-plus hour drive to Phoenix. The sun came up on our drive to Phoenix, so my very first sunrise for this new birthday year was of hills and cacti.

We got on a flight to Salt Lake City and from there we headed to Seattle.

What a beautiful day to be flying high above Seattle! I saw the mountains, evergreens, lakes, and even fall leaves from high up in the plane.

My husband is teaching his very last class at the yoga studio. His last class happens to be on my birthday. I was a bit exhausted after our trip, so I missed it. I don't really think of it as his last class because he's just moving his space. I'll meet him later tonight.

A trip to Sedona was my birthday treat, but now I feel like going to my favorite grocery store to get some goodies.

Do you ever treat yourself to anything on your birthday (or any other time for that matter)?

365 Inspirations—156: Endings and Beginnings

With some of my students this quarter

“All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.”—Mitch Albom

Another quarter is almost over. In the  almost seven years I've been teaching ESL at a community college in the area, I've seen hundreds of students come and go. Sometimes I see them in the hallway a year later and many of them say, "Teacher, do you remember me? I was in your class last fall."

 I usually remember their faces, but remembering hundreds of names is another thing. There is something about a face I can never forget and I try to remember their names after they've come and gone, but I often have to be reminded. I will say that while they are studying with me in any given quarter, I'm very quick to have ALL of their names memorized within one week of classes! I can have up to 100 students in any given quarter, so that's pretty good. I have to put their faces, names and something about their personality all together.  Every single one of my students has something unique and memorable about them.

Sometimes I can have up to 20 nationalities in one class. This quarter I had students from Gambia, Madagascar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Guatamala, Brazil, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Russia, Ukraine, Korea, China, Taiwan, Israel, Morocco and the list goes on....

I sometimes forget how rewarding my job is. I've done it for so long that it is kind of second nature. I'm often so touched by the stories my students tell me about their cultures and about their lives. We all learn from each other.

Now that quarter is almost over, I realize that the time we spent together was important and precious. During the quarter, when things are busy and I'm checking papers, preparing lesson plans and helping students, I can forget how wonderful it is to do what I do. It is only when I reflect on our time together that I'm reminded of how lucky I am.

So another quarter is over, but there is another one beginning soon. I'll finish this quarter on June 12th and I'll start teaching summer quarter on July 1st! Another beginning!

Speaking of beginnings, today my best friend gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, but it is not her baby. She decided to be a surrogate mother for a friend who is unable to have her own children. What a joy it was to hold this child on the second day of his life today! So fresh and new to the world! I'm proud of my friend for her selfless act of kindness. She is an inspiration. Here's a link to the post I wrote about her.

Have you had any memorable endings or beginnings recently?

365 Inspirations—117: Dreams Taking Shape

"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."—Steve Jobs

Sometimes it's hard to see a full picture of what our dreams are telling us. Yesterday, I got a full snapshot of what the picture looked like. All the pieces formed an overall theme and I knew what I wanted to do.

 I do collages often and they are another creative way of using the right brain to get ideas out of the head and onto paper. My friend who is an art therapist got me hooked on creating collages and I've always been amazed at how many of the things I've created on paper have actually come true in real life.

What I love about collaging is that there are no set rules. We can work with all kinds of materials, different textures and colors to bring what is inside to life.

A really good friend who was in the South Pacific for two years in the Peace Corps came over and we collaged together. She joined a collaging party at our house a couple of years ago and had such a great time, she requested to do it again.

We spread out all the materials on my dining room table and without further adieu, we got to work.

So for all of you who are wondering what this "birth of an idea" (Inspiration 116) is all about, my collage this evening sheds some light on the themes that are coming to me. I believe that we all intuitively know what we are meant to do, but often times the picture we get presents a challenge. I believe all of the challenges come from our own minds.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'm going to lay some foundations down under my pictures. I'm ready for this change!

Do you ever collage or participate in creative activities in order to get a view of what you are called to do?

365 Inspirations—109: Oblivion, The Movie

"But what is all this fear of and opposition to Oblivion? What is the matter with the soft Darkness, the Dreamless Sleep?"—James Thurber

Today my husband and I went to see Oblivion with Tom Cruise, which was Mission Impossible-esque.  It's 2077 and Jack Harper (played by Tom Cruise) is the last drone repairman on earth, or so he thinks. The earth was destroyed by aliens and the drones exist to protect humans, or so we think. Jack lives in a space-age house above the clouds with a swimming pool. After his mission is accomplished, he will go with his wife to a space station and live out the rest of his days in paradise.

But that's not what happens. I don't want to spoil the story. I don't normally like these kinds of movies, but I liked the scenes and themes in the movie about consciousness. No matter how technologically advanced we become, nothing can replace human love and emotion and these themes were touched on.

Lately I've been wondering about all the technology we use and I've wondered whether we've gotten out of control or are headed towards oblivion ourselves. There's so much tuning out that I see around me and very little tuning in. People aren't really where they are. They are texting or Face Timing or checking their emails or fiddling with their apps. This is what has become of us in the world. I still can't get used to someone walking around Greenlake, a serene lake in the midst of Seattle, talking to the air. It throws me off every time.

I keep this blog everyday, but try to keep my online time to a minimum. When I walk I walk, when I blog I blog, when I cook I cook and when I drive I drive. I try to be where I am and I try not to multi-task.

Who know really where we will be in our future. I'd like to believe that we will keep trying to find a harmony between technology and nature for our own good and for the continuation of the species!

Did you see this movie? Do you think technology has gotten out of control?