Traveling Beyond Doubt, Again

Traveling (especially in foreign lands) uproots us from our habitual mind and usual comforts. It takes us out of fixed time and place, out of fixed ideas, and offers a barrage of new experience that stimulates the intellect and opens the heart. If you have ever wondered what people mean by “living in the present,” look to travel as example. During vacation or travel we are imminently aware from one moment to the next without our usual worrying about the future or obsessing on something that happened last week. The relaxation (and joy) we experience is simply a becoming present without the other psychological baggage we usually carry with us. It’s the state of being we might strive for in our everyday lives, a means to greater peace and capacity to love.

In Paris I surrendered to the “marvelous times” of the moment and found myself watching carefully, witnessing myself with a distance that allowed all sorts of new understanding to arise. I had set out across the ocean with hopes of finding clarity about some things in my life. When lightening bolts did not strike my head, dictating that I make this choice or move to that city, I was at first discouraged. Then I began to pay attention to what had my attention each day! The places I found myself seeking in Paris, the intensity with which I studied certain objects in museums, the inspiration I found myself jotting into a notebook, all create a picture I had not noticed before. In hindsight it becomes even more formed and recognizable, though still in some vague state. It requires faith, and discipline, to keep with the process; to believe that the answers I seek are here within my “reach,” even if my fingers cannot touch them.

*

Coming up in February…old Paris monasteries, hidden goddess worship, medieval artifacts from both France and the Middle East; as well as a renewed statement of purpose for Vigorous Faith.

Oh Paris, My Paris

It was a dazzling trip; a winter walk through history, creativity, and surprise. But nothing came out of this trip that I might have expected. On the contrary, what bubbled to the surface were realizations and perceptions that were wholly different than what I would expect for myself. But when I embarked on the Paris journey I made a conscious intention to be open to whatever would be revealed; to just be open, an emptied vessel to fill or not to fill. And so it was.

It is with wonder that I now understand how the most subtle shift in perception can shift the cosmos. Nothing dramatic or reality-tv inclined, just a thin sheath of fog moving this way and that, a change in light, a tender brush of wind on a bridge. And, voilà, something is now different than it had been before.

We often make the mistake of wanting huge, materially visible outcomes to mark what is new or different in our lives. We need to touch the wound with our own hands to believe it exists. Yet, with concentrated awareness comes recognition of a more subtle plane of experience. A knowing without touching...

Paris

I'm headed to Paris this upcoming week. I expect there will be many cathedrals to visit and much art, music, and beautiful architecture to attend to. Not to mention great company and sundry delicacies. It's the perfect voyage after a long year(s) of growth challenges; an opportunity to re-attune to the harmony and grace of Life, so that I can manifest some positive, foundational changes in my life.

And after six months trying out "Vigorous Faith", I suspect the blog could use some readjustments as well, which I will be thinking about during my travels. If anyone has any suggestions or comments on what direction the blog might take to be more accessible and more interesting, please let me know!

Until then, a bientot mes amies!

Marvelous Times

When I asked a friend if they could recommend any good hip-hop/rap music with positive and meaningful lyrics; instead of guns, booty, and bling, they suggested Mos Def. So I picked up the cd, The Ecstatic, over the holidays. In the song "Life in Marvelous Times", the narrator is looking over his difficult childhood and challenging growth years with that sacred detachment that helps us stay present. The song culminates in a wave of gratitude:

wherever you ride, whatever your name,

this road called life is a beautiful thing

and we are alive in amazing times

delicate hearts, diabolical minds

revelations, hatred, love and war...

it's scary like hell, but there's no doubt

we can't be alive in no time but now.

And when I heard the phrase "marvelous times" sung in repetition... it revealed itself as a perfect catch phrase for that phenomenon called "staying present". This moment, right now, is marvelous times.

New Year's

The beginning and the end of a year are mere constructs of the human mind. They are linear configurations making road signs in the cycle of nature. Of course such things "matter" for history and finances, for marketing or for measuring age. But birds and trees and rivers care nothing for such endeavors; and we humans shouldn't take them so seriously ourselves.

Though it is satisfying to call it quits and look forward in a fresh light; a purely psychological exercise in regards to "a new year", but one we seem to count on. One that validates our fragile sense of self. One that we can stand upon and say: "This is real. This is secure." But nothing about time and space can be counted on for security.

So we revel in the chance to start over or categorize last year's defeats as behind us. But we can also revel in each moment of our lives and become timeless, ageless, year-less.

*

May the blessings of endings always bring the blessings of beginnings in your life. Happy New Year to all!