falling far from the tree...
The foreshadows, afterthoughts and general ramblings of a passive-aggressive womanchild
Thursday, September 14, 2023
peaches and cream
Thursday, August 24, 2017
In honor of my Uncle Marcus
A quote by Harriet Beecher Stowe...
The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.
What words have been left unsaid in your life?
There were plenty between Marcus and I. We had not spoken for three years since the passing of my mother, his sister Pamela. At a time when family should be at It’s closest, ours was torn apart. Words were said in anger and grief and a painful distance emerged between us. One that I didnt think would ever end. But here I am today memorizing my Uncle...grieving over words left unsaid.
Marcus and I were very close growing up and it was a interesting thing to have a Uncle that was only 2 years older than you. I remember the time when I was 4 or 5 years old when he would to no avail try to get my cousin Amir and I to respectfully call him "Uncle". He really did try his best to have dominion over us especially since he was much bigger than us but it never really caught on. One of my favorite funny childhood memories was when we lived on Ada street in Chicago and even though he tried to act like a tough guy he was actually afraid of the dark so Amir and I locked him out side and turned the lights out. He screamed and started kicking the door which was made of glass..just as he shattered the glass his dad Bernard was coming up the stairs behind him. As you can imagine Marcus at 6 years old wasnt such a tough guy when he was getting his butt beat that night.
As time went on Marcus grew up to be a self professed authority figure always giving his opinions and advice to whoever would listen and unfortunately for him we werent very obedient. I like to beleive one of the highlights of his life was the birth of my brothers Amon and Maku and my daughter Chyna because he finally had someone who was so much younger that when they said "Uncle Marcus!!!" they meant it. He loved them and he loved me too...and i know that now.
Marcus was one of the funniest people I knew and I'm going to miss his unique way of loving, which was wrapped up in sarcasm, advice and a few choice curse words.
I'm going to miss his sanity and resolve in this crazy world. And most of all I'm going to miss being able to call him Uncle.
I hope the irony that Marcus died on the same day as my mom, his sister is not lost on you. To me, It was a fitting way to remind me in death what he couldnt in life..that family matters.
Regardless of the pettiness and pride, the ego and our human frailties at the end of it all we have to try our best to love and respect each other. To continue to hold space for each other with empathy but also in truth.
Let Marcus' life, death and legacy be a testimony to that.
Rest in power Uncle Marcus.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Third...
What would she say to me if I had made it in time to visit her before she died? To be honest, the possibility haunts me.
I'm sure the message would be filled with words I would not be completely ready to receive, like.. "love yourself more”, like.. “stop carrying the proverbial world on your shoulders”, like.. “give me a hug because this is goodbye”.
One of my favorite pictures of Katie and I was taken in April 2014 at what I jokingly refer to as the Stupid Cancer “Final Destination” Happy Hour. So many of our friends that attended that event are no longer with us today and one must wonder how does the average person deal with constantly being reminded of their own mortality without the help of a lot of wine, bourbon, legal and illegal substances or all of the above.
Unfortunately, it comes with the territory and If you are like Katie you would at least try and do it with courage, perseverance and a healthy dose of “this is some bullshit”.
I have to keep on moving, dancing, celebrating and loving every moment I can for her and all the countless others for whom the bells continue to toll.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
The struggle is real
I'm sitting at the far end of the semi-circle in the company of this wise woman and 4 very enthusiastic students. I turn into observation mode. "The others" seem to have already bonded. I saw them earlier in the day eating breakfast together and chatting as if they were old friends. My mind immediately felt out of place. They are clearly 10-20+ years older than me which is fine except that it makes me feel like I should be studying at the kiddie table.
Corky thinks wearing white makes her enlightened |
Robin always out OMs everyone |
Pat is sweet until you make her miss her Tea time |
Larry is the best dishwasher in Yogaville |
We start the class like most activities on the ashram, we "OM in". Breath in, Breath out, deep breath in and on the exhale let out an "OM" for the whole breath. We repeat then chant and settle into our orientation. We each describe ourselves and the reason we came. There is a retired yoga teacher, a woman who has done the LYT program before, a truth seeker, a citizen of the world and me.
We are introduced to more detail about the ashram, Swami Satchidananda himself, the philosophy of integral yoga and yoga in general. We go over the requirements again. A typical day looks something like this...
5am 1+ hour long meditation
6:20 am 1+hour long Hatha yoga session
8 am breakfast
8:30 am-11:45am "Karma" yoga (selfless acts of service)
Noon - meditation
12:45pm - lunch
1:30-5:00 - Karma yoga
5pm - Hatha yoga
6pm - evening meditation
6:30pm - supper
7pm - Karma yoga
7:30pm - Spiritual studies
10pm - Silence/lights out
Yep. it's intense.
The first week I felt I was in a fog. I nearly broke in between trying to deal with my insomnia, detox off of TV, alcohol, meat and sugar, be of service, perform yoga postures with my achy bones, and study with dementia all while doing so with a loving attitude.
I questioned why I was even here. Was this going to make any real difference in my life? The glutton for punishment shtick I was doing was no longer cute and I really needed to hunker down and go within to see if all this discomfort and pain was worth it. My answer would not come immediately. In fact, it would get worse before it would get better. The eight limbs of yoga were outstretched and kicking every bit of my Yogi wanna-be ass.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Praise Jam
I was feeling pretty lonely at this point but the universe knew exactly what I needed in the form of an invitation to a "Praise Jam" by one of the Ashram Yogis. Initially I wasn't extremely interested. I was raised Catholic and we tend to be a bit more reserved in our worship so unless praise jam was some awesome new spread to put on my whole wheat toast I wouldn't necessarily be so inclined to participate.
I decided to accept the invitation and went some of the other LYTs and Yogis in Training to a house off the quad but walking distance. There I find a dog that looks like Lassie and a sage of a cat in the home of a bearded man that hugs everyone as they walk in. He starts to give instructions: Pick up a book on the table, find a passage that "speaks" to you and read it. "Shyness will ruin the jam" he warns. We each rummage through the options. Rumi..Hafiz...Whyte and many more. We started with a harmony of "OMs" until the universe found its way into the music. Guitars, drums, harmonicas played as we swayed and read our individual passages...
More people arrived as we packed the living room. Real Yogis, soon to be Yogis, and me. I am not sure who I am at this moment except an observer falling in love with David Whyte, falling in love with these people in this room, falling in love with God and realizing where there is a OM there is a way.
.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Welcome Weekend
Every weekend in Yogaville is "Welcome Weekend" where visitors can get better acquainted with the grounds and the "Integral Yoga way of life". I spent my first weekend here like most visitors excited about this new peace seeking adventure. Even getting up for 6:20 am meditation was exciting and cute. Look at me! I'm a zen master! Even though I fidgeted and basically nodded off through most of it, I thought it was pretty awesome. I got to tour the LOTUS temple (which I will discuss later) and hear the history of Swami Satchidananda and Yogaville in general.
Getting ready for my first Satsang |
The view of LOTUS from Nataraja shrine |
Nataraja shrine on the Hill |
First LOTUS pics at Night |
totally planned my outfit to match LOTUS |
The grounds are amazing. It's surrounded by 650 acres, bordering the James River on the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's not hard to see the draw as far as being surrounded by beautiful environment. Even in the barren winter it's lovely. The whole goal of Yogaville from their own words... "Here at Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville, you will have the opportunity to connect with like-minded people seeking to live easeful, peaceful, useful lives. Our mission at the Ashram is to practice, live, and impart the Integral Yoga teaching of Sri Swami Satchidananda. Our goal is to experience supreme peace and joy and to share that peace and joy with one and all."
View of the James River |
Me..blocking the view of the James River |
The Welcome Weekend allowed me to not be completely blindsided by the LYT program. I even had the opportunity to meet some visiting DC yogis. I instantly bonded with some folks and happily exchanged information so that when I returned we could connect.
Inside LOTUS..family love |
By Sunday afternoon I was pretty tired. All of the "Weekend" folks were packing up and heading out, including my new buddies from DC. There was a huge part of me that wanted to hitch a ride back. My mind was telling me that they were lucky. They were going to be able to go back to their cozy little places in the city, maybe grab a burger on the way home and sit in front of the TV with a glass of wine. Me? I looked down to realize that my real work was just about to begin as my bowl of kale laughed at me.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Welcome to Yogaville
On the train..ego intact :) |
I arrived in Charlottesville on time and waited for the driver Jayan to find me. Alice, an older woman from Potomac, Maryland was already in the car as he had picked her up previously from the bus station. She was coming to Yogaville just for the weekend but she was not new to ashram life. Alice and Jayan talked the whole ride about ashram life and Yogaville in general. I sat in the back staring out the window as big town turned into small towns with two lane roads that wined and curved into mountain views with treetops that had longed ago shed its leaves. By time I noticed I was being severely anti-social an hour had came and gone. As we passed the "Welcome to Yogaville" sign I went to do my usual "check-in" on Facebook but alas, no cell service. My heart skipped a beat. Yikes!!! Yogi life has officially begun.
Welcome to Yogaville! |
We pull up to the "Quad" to go to registration. I see shiny, happy people dressed in white everywhere.They welcome me and give me a yellow rubber wrist band reminiscent of the "LiveStrong" bands but this one says "LYT" for Living Yoga Training. Ahhh..I'm a "light", I get it. I like it. I want to immediately shake the hand of the person who thought of that. From this day forward at the ashram I am a LIGHT and everyone treats me as such.
They look happy..I want to be like them |
I am the LIGHT of the world..or so they say. |
I don't think I have enough scarves |
This is my home for the next 30+ days |
All the Yogi essentials |
But the truth is, even if your suitcases are beautifully colored, its still "baggage". You can bring it along if you want to but you are the one that has to carry them up and down 3 flights of ashram stairs. Was it worth it? We will see......
Om Shanti