Live Fully

I am not sure why but I love rocks. Whenever I am out in nature, my mind immediately goes to the dirt and my vision focuses on what rock treasures I can find. What this leads to is a whole lot of rocks and not much to do with them. I recently made a "rock garden" on my balcony (that could use a little help) and decorated some plants with rocks. But my favorite use of the rocks was to write inspirational quotes on them, an idea I took from Thich Nhat Hanh.  I even copied the calligraphy style because it looks so joyful.

My favorite rock quote is the one that says, "Live Fully." It resonates with the mood I have adopted post viewing the new Amy Schumer movie, I Feel Pretty. I am not a big fan of hers but this particular movie's theme struck a cord. In the film, the character hits her head and the concussion makes her view herself as utterly stunningly gorgeous. That frees her and gives her the self confidence and esteem to live fully and freely.

In reality, we can all live that way. The only thing holding us back is fear.... mostly fear of judgment. And everyone is afraid of everyone else. The joke is on us. Being a free spirit and living freely means rejecting fear. Rejecting the voice and stories of manas.

And giggling much more.

Games and graduation

At the end of our four days of classes, we had to do a final "team" project that involved talk bubbles, ipads, and recording. At first, I was super skeptical and wanted to find a way to duck out early (no pun intended!). But then I joined my team and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Who knew. Here is what we came up with:

You probably can't read the thought bubbles but that doesn't really matter, it was a great exercise in that we had a lot of fun. Oh, Disney......

And of course, nothing at Disney would be complete without the requisite visit from Mickey Mouse....... I must say, I have never really been into him but after I took the pic, I hugged him and felt such warmth directed at him. WTF? A guy in a costume??? Disney sure has figured this out if they got me to drink the cool-aid.   ;)

Trip around the world

Yesterday I headed out to Epcot Center and had pretty low expectations......I have never really been a fan of amusement parks and really don't like crowds.

But thank goodness I got over that! I was totally blown away. I was there during the day and also in the evening, and most times were magical. I got to see countries I have never visited, as well as experienced reunions with those I have.

Oh, and the best part - I followed something on my bucket list and hit the Epcot park with bright pink lipstick.

I think my favorite part was the acapella concert in Epcot's future world. The group was great and they played all the popular songs through the ages, so I knew almost all of them (usually I am pretty ignorant about music!). It was so joyful just to watch them sing and I couldn't help moving a little to the beat. But the best happened when these two little girls - complete strangers - boldly went up to the front of the stage and rocked it out. It was awesome.

Lastly, I caught the evening firework show. WOW. It was spectacular. I have to admit, that at some point in my adult life I became a bit cynical about fireworks and haven't even been to the 4th of July fireworks show for a while. But seeing the show yesterday reminded me that it truly is amazing and worth it!

And lastly, as the park was closing, I was able to slowly walk through the entire place and see all the cities at night, empty of people. It was so beautiful.

And the last view I had was of the stunning vision of the Eiffel tower as I walked back to my hotel. La vie est belle!

Animal friends

I have been really enjoying the animals around Disney, especially and including my favorite spirit animals- bunnies!! Both real and Disney kind. And birds, ducks, and of course- the Disney characters.

Safari experience

I have a fun opportunity to take a class at the Disney Institute this week. Part of the teaching include little excursions into the various parks and yesterday we went to the Animal Kingdom on an evening safari followed by dinner. It was amazing!

I saw everything - crocodiles, elephants, zebras, giraffes, flamingos, hippos, and even lions. Going at night gave it a special aura that made the experience much more intimate.

A friend I met from the class said his girlfriend was in Kenya for work, and we laughed about the irony of him sending her "safari" pictures from Disney.

My favorite were definitely the lions, such regal creatures.

What a great start to the week, I look forward to what other adventures lay wait for me!

My love affair

Not sure why or how, but I have fallen completely in love with my friend Annie's baby boy. For the first time, I got to experience a close friend get pregnant, give birth, and then bam - a baby. I first met him when he was only one week old, and it was love at first sight.

And the love affair continues. I got to visit him yesterday and he is already six weeks old! His eyes open and he is able to stare and hold a gaze, so we had some tender moments. What a miracle.

I feel so lucky and privileged to be a part of his life and of Annie's. So much gratitude.... xoxoxo

Breaking free from the cocoon

I had a really fun weekend and realized that the strongest impediment to trying new things is a reluctance, maybe even laziness, to get out of my comfort zone. I am not sure when I started getting this "comfortable" but it is a main reason that my life became boring.

Now, I definitely understand why I went down this road. Being comfortable is so seductive. It is safe and familiar and there is just enough pleasure to keep one satisfied. This is the cocoon that my favorite Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa used to talk about, explaining that it is “an enclosed familiar world in which we can hide or go to sleep…The way of cowardice is to embed ourselves in a cocoon…perpetuate habitual patterns. When we are constantly recreating our basic patterns of behavior and thought, we never have to leap into fresh air or onto fresh ground.”

The good news is that I have woken up within my cocoon and realized where I was. I must thank the Shambhala tradition for instilling in me these spiritual concepts and wisdoms, because this teaching - which I learned about 10 years ago - came to help me at the exact moment I needed it. And I chose to leave my safe cocoon and look for some fresh air.

“In the cocoon there is no idea of light at all, until we experience some longing for openness. When we begin to examine that comfortable darkness—look at it, smell it, feel it—we find it is claustrophobic. So the first impulse that draws us away from the darkness towards the light of the Great Eastern Sun [a vision of enlightened society, helping others] is a longing for ventilation. As soon as we begin to sense the possibility of fresh air, we realize that our arms and legs are being restricted. We want to stretch out and walk, dance even jump. We realize that there is an alternative to cocoon: we discover that we could be free from that trap. With that longing for fresh air, for a breeze of delight, we open our eyes, and we begin to look for an alternative environment…And to our surprise, we begin to see light, even though it may be hazy at first. The tearing of the cocoon begins at that point. When we look back to the cocoon and see the suffering that takes place in the world of the coward, that inspires us to go forward in our journey of warriorship.”

So I think my little adventure is about warriorship, in the sense that Trungpa talks about it. His teachings hold so much wisdom and seem perfect for me in this current phase, so I am going to go back and explore more....

The point of the Shambhala training is to get out of the cocoon, which is the shyness and aggression in which we have wrapped ourselves.

In the Shambhala tradition, we talk about being a warrior. I would like to make it clear that a warrior, in this case, is not someone who wages war. A Shambhala warrior is someone who is brave enough not to give in to the aggression and contradictions that exist in society. A warrior, or pawo in Tibetan, is a brave person, a genuine person who is able to step out of the cocoon—that very comfortable cocoon that he or she is trying to sleep in.

If you are in your cocoon, occasionally you shout your complaints, such as: “Leave me alone!” “Bug off.” “I want to be who I am.” Your cocoon is fabricated out of tremendous aggression, which comes from fighting against your environment, your parental upbringing, your educational upbringing, your upbringing of all kinds. You don’t really have to fight with your cocoon. You can raise your head and just take a little peek out of the cocoon. Sometimes, when you first peek your head out, you find the air a bit too fresh and cold. But still, it is good. It is the best fresh air of spring or autumn or, for that matter, the best fresh air of winter or summer. So when you stick your neck out of the cocoon for the first time, you like it in spite of the discomfort of the environment. You find that it’s delightful. Then, having peeked out, you become brave enough to climb out of the cocoon. You sit on your cocoon and look around at your world. You stretch your arms, and you begin to develop your head and shoulders. The environment is friendly. It is called “planet earth.”

The world around you is so fine and beautiful that you know that you can raise yourself up as a warrior, a powerful person. You begin to feel that the world is absolutely workable, not even merely workable, but wonderful. To your surprise, you find that lots of others around you are also leaving their cocoons. You find hosts of ex-cocooners all over the place. As ex-cocooners, we feel that we can be dignified and wonderful people. We do not have to reject anything at all. As we step out of our cocoons, we find goodness and gratefulness taking place in us all the time.