LunarMusings

Doorway in... Places I have been so far...

Doorway in...
Originally uploaded by lunarmusings.

Here is a short run down on where I have been so far.

Landed in Mumbai, India after a 25+ travel day! It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and because I slept quite a bit, it seemed to go by fairly quickly. When I got off the plane I quickly ran to collect my luggage, er... backpack actually, and find JON!!!

It had been almost 4 months since we had last seen each other, and I was nervous and excited and giddy all at once. And then there, in a crowd of people was my baby! So yummy and tall, and happy...

There was some shy awkwardness on my part, not sure why, but being in India and not really being able to show open affection in public actually softened the reentry for me, although it has since become a bit of a challenge for me as I am pretty affectionate, and catch myself often just before reaching out and touching his face, or giving him a spontaneous kiss.

So... Mumbai is a loud, crowded city! By first experience was the driving. I don't know that words can accurately describe the kind of go cart racing chaos that it is. That first ride was hair razing and filled with quite a few squeals and nervous giggles on my part. Since then, I have begun to appreciate the practice in surrender and trust that being driven around can induce in me. Believe or not, its a relaxation all its own. Deep lessons there.

But being a pedestrian is a whole other game and I am not into that at all! Seriously, its dodge or die. Thats really all I can say about that. :)

Jon's friend from work back home has family in Mumbai and they graciously offered to let us stay with them during our stay in Mumbai. Their hospitality was simply wonderful! And Lela's cooking... ecstacy. Truly. I love Indian food, and this was everything I had hoped and more.

We stayed in Mumbai for about 4 days and visited several temples, Chowpatty Beach, watched a Hindi movie with no subtitles, and ate great food.

From Mumbai we took a train south to Goa, where Sudhir, Ila's husband arranged for us to stay at a guest house in Calangute, which is a beach town and really felt like Baja California. I mentioned this a few posts back. The place was called Anol Haven and was really a great place to stay, but it isn't a town I would recommend visiting.

Nearby there is a town called Anjuna which really is the hippie capitol of Goa and the Wednesday market is massive and overwhelming and the kind of shopping we all dream of! But this too, was a very crowded and loud town.

After two days we headed up north along the coast a bit, and found a place to stay called Silent in the town of Asvem. It was a beach hut on stilts overlooking the ocean. The hut was small with walls made of woven palm frawns. There was a bathroom and shower head and a double bed with a mosquito net made for a twin bed. There weren't many people, and it felt like the kind of place you could get lost in for years and no one would ever know.

For dinner one night we went to the place next door called The Meem's Arabian Sea. The food was amazing, and the owners were a cool couple that hosted quite a bit of retreats at their fabulous place. We were inspired to ask them about room availability and they had a space for us and we moved! This place was w o n d e r f u l. It too was a palm frawn hut, but larger, airier, with a beautiful bed and a open air bathroom/shower, that was clean and truly romantic. We slept to the sound of crashing waves.

We ended up staying here for longer then intended because it was such a relaxing space. We made friends with their yoga instructor Allison, who is originally from Santa Monica! And rented a motorbike to buzz around the surrounding towns and check out the sights. I took many pictures here, but haven't had a chance to upload them yet. Stay tuned!

We finally tore ourselves away and booked an overnight train further south into Kerela where the Amritapuri Ashram is.

I will pick up from here at a later time. Must run.

But just to be up to date, right now we are waiting for a bus to take us back up to Mysore by way of Bangalore. We have spent the last two days in Allepey touring the backwaters of Kerela by house boat!

Will post more soon!
e

Spring!

Offering to MahaLakshmi
Originally uploaded by lunarmusings.

I can't believe its Spring already! I feel as if I never really got a proper Winter (whatever that is in Southern California!). And being here in India has been a perpetual Summer for me.

But Spring, I feel. That internal blossoming that mirrors natures unfoldment. I have been slowly emerging from a personal Winter that has lasted almost 2 years. And being here, surrounded by all the commotion, the colors, the flowers, the Temples and the gorgeous smiling faces of the people I have met here has ushered in this new season of the soul.

One petal at a time, the heart opens to one big arms-stretched-out-wide "YES"! The embrace of all things new and enticing and beautiful and creative and loving.

I am being enticed...

by India
by the Mother
by mySelf
by innocence
by beauty
by devotion
by visions
by the Beloved
by possibility
by Home
Home...

Wishing us all an abundant, creative and ever blossoming Spring!
Jai Ma.

New Moon in Pisces 2007

Hi!  I finally got a chance to upload some photos!  I am also in the process of uploading to my Flickr page, so feel free to check out the photos I have so far!

Well... I think that I can finally sympathize with Jon and his struggle with keeping his blog updated while traveling.  Every day is something new, and internet connections can become scarce round these parts.  So I have no idea whether to keep a chronological log of where I have been or just treat this as I would my normal blogging habits.  For now, I am just going to jump in where I am today.

The New Moon is occuring in Pisces on or around the 18th.  I haven't quite figured out what the exact time for it is here in India, but tomorrow morning is the eclipse. 

This Moon is about watery emotions, blurred boundaries, compassion, love, intuition, creativity, visions.  Its about examining where boundaries need to be erected, and where they need to be softened.  There is such wisdom behind knowing the difference.  Its certainly a lesson that I have worked hard on in my life, and one that continues to reveal itself to me as I go.

Right now as the Moon enters Pisces, I find myself at the Amritapuri Ashram here in Kerela, Inida.  I will write another post on this at a later time, but for now as always, the lessons that the Moon brings me are always in alignment with my situations of the moment.

Unconditional love, acceptance and opening to the deeper secrets of soul communication are high on the menu these days.  I find myself aware of just how much well developed my ego is and how it gets in the way of my Love expressions.  Not only that, but it gets in the way of my reception of Love.  I have way to many boundaries in areas where there should be none. 

Each offering to the Divine Mother is a step closer to relinquishing these walls.  Each chanted mantra is an opening to a new frequency.  I am humbled by the mirrors that India is putting up for me.  The visions of me that I see are very different then those images I get back home... My intention for this New Moon cycle is to just Open.  Open and let down the walls. 

I am so grateful for this experience.

Much love,

e

The Arabian Sea...

(edited:  Go here for a photo of the sunset I was watching when I had this experience!)

I so wish I could upload photos today.  I have taken so many, but because we have no direct Internet access I can't upload anything.  Jon and I manage to find an Internet cafe when we can, so here I am...

We are in a sleepy town in Goa called Asvem.  We are staying in a palm thatched beach bungalow and falling asleep to the sound of the Arabian Sea dancing on the shore.  I think that today finally, I have arrived.  And the arrival is more of an internal one then anything else.  I want so much to find the words for this, but don't really know where to start.

In 1996, after my father died, my Mother, brother and I went to Cuba to see family, and in a way to avoid the first holiday season we would have without my father.  I had never been to Cuba before, but growing up, my parents had infused me with the sounds, the smells, the stories of their country.  I don't know how much of my body memory was because of them, or because Cuba is in my genetic memory, but growing up, I had always had memories of a place I had never set foot on.

When I arrived in Cuba, it was truly a home coming on a very deep level.  Its something I have always marveled over, and I have often been sadden by the fact that its really something that I could never really pass on to my children, as its now such a distant memory for me.

Arriving here in India, I didn't carry any expectations of cellular memories, but I did have a sense that I would feel a sense of connection, or homecoming that was more spiritual then anything else.  Arriving in Mumbai was an assault on my sensory system, and it took a few days to settle my senses down.  We visited temples that were gorgeous, and organic and visually familiar, but I wasn't fully there.  I attributed some of that to the fact that every single thing around me was so new, that falling into my familiar patterns of communicating with the Divine and honoring the sacred were a bit elusive.

We left Mumbai for a very crowded town in Goa called Calangute.  While there for 2 days, Jon and I continued to reacquaint ourselves to each other and this took some energy in the midst of the crowds and a very Baja California vibe.  (Incidentally, if you ever plan on visiting Goa, don't stop in Calangute.  If you want a cool hippie vibe go to Anjuna, and if you want beach huts and silence save for the crashing waves, come to Asvem... its a dream, but know that none of these places is really India proper in that its very touristy, and caters strictly to that.)

So after fleeing Calangute for Asvem, I have settled down, slowed down, and had a chance to Be.  And here is some of what I have come up with.

Last night, and tonight I sat watching the sun set over the Arabian Sea, and felt so full, so open and so free.  I am bathing in the Arabian Sea!!!  That little girl in me... wow, I have no words to describe what that pure part of me is feeling right now.  Yesterday I marveled at the fact that I was in such a small box at home, and wanted my trip to India to be a tangible lesson in how big life truly is, and how big my life and experience in it can truly be.  And as I sat there on a lounge chair, feet propped up on a bamboo railing, watching the sun set, I thought to myself, my life is as big as the world... as big as the universe.  And this world we live in?  Its as big as our lives can be.  Once actually here, I realized that the world isn't so vast as to be limiting. And I guess thats a belief I had been carrying in me.

Today, I spent the day reading, journaling and meditation.  My feelings of out of sortness with this land, with Jon, with the sensory overload, with my poor left foot that I have twisted 3 times! These feelings were happening simultaneously with an internal health that I haven't felt in a long time, with a joy over the food, with a rightness of being here.  Strange dualities all at once... Those feelings settled.  I created a space for myself to come back in, put the Ipod on and listened to very right and very uplifting girlie music (Patty Griffin's Big Sky, Carry Me, and Big Love) and I sat out on the beach alone past sunset.  And that heart opening deep breath arrival feeling?  That feeling that comes when you inhabit yourself fully, and from that place totally take in the experience you are having?  That feeling that we get (and you who are part of that "we" know who you are) when we right ourselves on our path and let go of those things that are tying us down needlessly?  I got that. 

The wind was blowing, the sun was down, the tears slowly flowed, and my arms were up over my head taking it all in.  And my vision, the one that has been so obscured for so long, got so much clearer.  And in that moment, India revealed Her path for me.  And I felt Home.

Nothing is certain.  Nothing.  And the questions that many of you have sent me... no answers.  The only thing I can say is that I am breaking free in places that haven't been for far to long. 

I also have to share that I miss home.  I miss connecting with all of you on a regular basis, and despite all this, there is no place I would rather be then here.  Another duality.

Blessings and love to all of you.

e

Oh and PS!  There are a few of you in our blogging world that I am unabashedly falling in love with!  I haven't been able to keep up with you, and have yet to update my blog roll with your links, but you're with me nonetheless!

muah!

Full Moon in Virgo 2007 and Holika...

This picture was taken by Jon at a Holika bonfire on the night of the full moon.  Our hosts here in Mumbai took us to a temple to see it.

There is so much to say already, that its hard to stay on track with just this one topic!  Beginning my trip with a Full Moon and a festival for Spring is so auspicious for me.  When I finally got online to see what sign the Moon was in, I found it in Virgo and realized that my body and soul knew all along exactly where the Moon was. 

Virgo is about health and healing.  And from the minute I arrived here in India I have felt a profound shift occuring in my body.  Its as if the all the elements here are working together to restore a deep balanced wholeness to my internal world and physical body.  Every meal here has been so rediculously amazing and each time I eat I feel as if everything is righting itself within.  I am inhabiting all of the nooks and crannies within myself as opposed to only living in the parts that feel good today. 

The heat is constant and oppressive, and I find that I am getting used to it.  I sweat profusely everyday, and feel as if I am in a deep cleanse.  The impurities of the pollution and dirt outside don't effect me, because my body is in a constant state of purging from deep within.  My skin is feeling wonderful in some place and letting go of allergies in others.  My poor feet are really badly blistered and they hurt, but it has made me very aware to  the pulsation of this land beneath me.  I am taking it in...

I have many more post in que, and everyday there is more and more.  The temples I have seen so far are simply breathtaking.  They are organic and filled with a beauty that comes from a natural awareness of all that is sacred. 

Jon and I are leaving Mumbai tonight for Goa where we will be for about 5 days.  I hope to post more on Holi later today before we leave. 

Please be patient with me!  I am all over the place with my words.  I am filled with so much already, and so excited to share, I can't quite figure out how to seperate it all.

Much love,
e

Leaving...

I leave for India today!  Have no words really.  Still in packing mode with endless lists running through my head.  "Make sure I turn everything off, remember to set out last batch of mail for the postperson to take, don't forget zip lock baggies..." 

I managed to turn the running list in my head off for a nice amount of time last night for sleep.  It was actually a very deep sleep for me.  I think I have pretty much exhausted myself this week with all of this.  I hope this will help me get a long stretch of sleep on the plane from here to Heathrow.

There is so much more I would love to sit here and write about.  So many layers to process about this trip, but I am in such preparation mode that its not coming yet...

So, I send you all love, and promise to post here as often as I can while away.  Jon has his laptop with him, so when and if I can tear him away from it ;) I will update you all on the magic of India!

Love love love,
e

Sunday Scribblings: Destinations

India. 

Thats my big destination for this year.  There are actually a couple of new roads that are opening to me as this new year begins, but India is the big one.  The next thing.

I was originally going to meet Jon in Thailand and be there for a month, and then together we would go into India for another month.  But as time passed and planning took place, I began to really feel a shift.  More then traveling for the sake of exploring a country, I started to realize that what my soul was craving was a transformation.  And I started to feel the pull of India.  She has designs for me, and one month wasn't going to cut it. 

I am actually leaving my life, my home, my sweet cat Chloe, my work, everything for 2 whole months!  I have never done this before and setting this in motion has really begun to expand my awareness of what is possible for me.  More then anything, my leaving is about learning that life is much bigger then the box I have lived in for so long.

This feels more like a pilgrimage for me.  I intend on visiting the Kali temple just south of Kolkata, and from there, let Her have Her way with me.  I need to See the Ganges... let its current sing to me and whisper the mystical secrets it holds for humanity.  I want to have my all to comfortable senses shocked awake by the contrasts of reality taking place simultaneously in the streets of India.  I want to go back to my spiritual home... 

These next two months are a count down for me.  I leave February 28th and return April 27th.  Its still very surreal and rather then read guide books I am reading through my other books. The books that have been my spiritual journey for the last 6 years.  Stories, mystical revealings, and ways of practice, this is what I am immersing myself in these days.  I have no idea what this will be like, or what life will look like once I am done and back here at home. 

And thats whats most important about this journey. 

Willow Wood Lane in the Fall

I took this picture on a walk I took several weeks ago while visiting my friends Matt and Em in Doylestown, PA.  It was my first exposure to cold weather this year and it was so delicious.  The cool crisp wind and the blue skies all touched by the trees.  These trees were still turning colors, still in the process of turning their leafy faces to another season on the wheel of the year. 

Imagine my difficulty when returning to Southern California I was greeted with 92 degree weather!  These last few years in So. Cal have been getting harder and harder for me.  I love it here.  Have always loved it here, but more and more we are looking at year long summers and it has started to take a toll on my body cycles.  I crave a shift throughout the year.  Love our Autumns and the blue skys with cool breazes.  It has just now started to cool down.  We have a high of 76 today!  Ummm?  Its December 2nd! 

I have toyed with moving further north in the last couple of years, but it has now begun to feel like a necessity.  I love grey days, I love rain, cold nights, and storms.  I love the break of spring and then summer after serveral months of being bundled up in sweaters and scarves.  I had to leave town for the Thanksgiving weekend in order to finally pull out my yummy scarves and wear them. 

I really believe that we are witnessing global warming here in a very obvious way.  Our weather patterns have shifted dramatically in the last couple of years, and I really think its true that we will all end up migrated further north as the decades move past in order to follow more favorable weather patterns. 

Me?  Right now, I am longing for the dark embrace of a cold winter that may not come at all, unless I keep making little escapes to the Magic Cabin in Idyllwild.  And even then winter may only come for a week or two, as last year Idyllwilds first snow came in February! 

Sigh...

Self Portrait Tuesday: With Someone #2

This is Jon and I while on vacation several weeks ago in the Adirondacks.  We went with a group of friends to the amazing cabin that sat right over a huge creek and spent 4 days having fun.  We rafted, boated, drove up to Lake Placid for the day and hung out.  On the fourth day everyone left and Jon and I had a chance to hang out for a day and a half all by ourselves.  The pace suddenly changed, and the house was quiet, slow and intimate.  I love cabins lost somewhere up in a mountain...

This is us lounging in the screened in porch that rested over the creek.  We spent this day reading, journaling, talking, lounging, loving and just Being.  Such a great day.  Such a great place!

The "With Someone" theme really resonates with me most when looking at this picture.  I get the pleasure and the quiet bliss that comes from just existing with another in the same space and mood in time.  I particularly appreciate the lack of formality and veils that exist when you are With someone.  Bare skin, cold feet, silence and the occasional sweet glance.  Soothing, lovely, and very memorable!

Vail Highlights!

I'm back...  I can't believe how quickly it all went by.  But of course it always seems that way on the other end of a trip doesn't it?

There is so much I want to write about in general, that I feel like I have a back log of topics just itching to get onto the screen! So I am going to give you the highlights of the trip and then post more later.

Sooo......

Matt and Em, from Philadelphia...

Invited all of us from different cities...

to come together and stay at this Condo in Vail, Colorado...

in order to have fun and spend the week skiing.

So Jon and I drove just under 14 hours from California, through Nevada, Arizona, Utah and into Colorado.  The scenery was just breath taking and while I was behind the wheel, I was tempted to capture a particularly adorable sight on camera...

Unfortunately, while fumbling with the camera, I became a bit distracted and missed the police car lurking in the median, just waiting for an innocent passerby to break the law!  I won't go into the full details, but suffice it to say I had some seriously generous juju working on my behalf that day, because the wonderful officer gave me a speeding ticket for going 85 miles an hour, and not the speed I was really traveling at, which again... will remain hush-hush!

But while in Vail, we girls had a night out at The Red Lion.   

Where we had an impromptu concert by Edwin McCain.

And I learned to ski again for the first time in over 10 years!

Other highlights include cooking a Thai veggie dish with my Beloved.

And having our last meal together in honor of Jon's birthday at The Sapphire Restaurant.

If you ever find yourself in Vail, please make it a point to go here.  The food was absolutely phenomenal, and the space was beautiful.  Their vegetarian dish was an Asparagus Polenta that was to die for!

And on the way home we got to take in the gorgeous sights again...

Thanks for all the fun you guys!