Friday, February 18, 2011

1010: Reflections on Movement in Life of the Journeying Sort

Twenty two minutes to begin the journey
of talking about
journeying

I am at the Oakland Airport, familiarly know as OAK, and am in the Southwest Line.
Medium sized suitcase, normal. Duffel bag, pretty full over one shoulder: sort of unusual.
Very full backpack: normal, but usually for the young travelling suitcase free.
Duffel bag to carry on, not so unusual, though no one else ever has one.

And this stands out: a table of some sort, massage, or something, folded in half it's
about this high,
gesturing to three feet high,
and this wide
same

There are ropes around it, and the ropes hold a packing blanket,
that provides it some protection.

This is a lot in the line
and it's October of 2010,
and I'm in Oakland, and on my way from a year living on Orcas
Island,
with three times off in Northern California, coming in and out of OAK,
though before without the table,
whatever it is

A year of living on Orcas Island,

this tiny jewel Brave New World, amazing social microcosm
beautiful cedar and apple and eagle and wild happy book reading eco loving
funky smart artist hardworking sort of hippy folks mixed with retired
people like Richard Bach of Johnathan Livingston Seagul and Richard Donner of Superman
and blah blah
names

A year of living on Orcas came October 16 2009
and left OAK to go to a new supposedly amazing place Octover 16 2010

And this new amazing place is.....
going to be....
I've never been there

know only two people there, both of whom don't answer phone
calls,
nor email,
nor have interest in helping me establish there

but supposedly amazing place

which is....

Austin, Texas

Ah, so.
We are in Austin now, listening to me,
if you are in the living room the first Saturday of March, 2011
and now you are .....

and in the story I am on this journey,
from a year of living on Orcas Island, Washington
to trying out winters in Austin, Texas

And in the year before living on Orcas for a year,
I'd living a month or thereabouts in
Tucson, Arizona
Atlatnta, Georgia,
Arcata, California (the real notth, of redwoods, and pot growers and endless rain, fog mist ecological correctness to put even Berkeley to shame)
Gunnison, Colorado,

And I'm 65 years old, standing in line with 5
items, three to check,
but it's Southwest and I only have to pay for the table

And what's that table about,
is that a journey?

Yes.

And am I a lifelong vagabond and this is just the shaggy
last one two or seven chapters of that story

Well, not really
or yes,
depending on young youth
of slightly mobile parents:
Ohio, Pasadena, Newport Beach, Denver, Cincinnati, back to Newport,
to college firss So Cal, then No Cal
that is movey aroundy

and then the 22 years in Berkeley
some call it the new Vienna, comparing it to the fermenting years
of Einstein and Freud
22 years in Berkeley, raising two children, they actually live in the same
house all through their public school years,
and
then 12 years in Sonoma California,
where I settle in enough to create a still ongoing 3 acre public
garden,
and run for city council and still visit and live with a friend
when I come to No Cal
and fly in and out of OAK

So, 22 and 12 years in two places
and then I get older and take to the road
to do what i couldn't
and didn't really want to do when I was younger:

to ply my trade at different places
to meet new people
to keep writing my book
to discover what is grand about living in other locals

to tell you the truth:
or, my truth,
okay:
to tell you my opinion;
the people in Sonoma were sort of narrow minded in
their idea that Sonoma was "the perfect" place
to live in the world

true is was an hour from grand culture
true it is a growing place among the best in
the world
true the hot summer days always cool down into the fifties at night
and the winters of rain, rain, always have scattered weeks, even
in january and February in the 60's and 70's
and...
the ocean is nearby
and....

but I wanted to discover a bigger world

and there where relationship 'reasons"
and
the trade,
that has something to do with the table, which is called a Feldenkrais table,
and the skill I had gained,
called either the Feldenkrais Method
or the Anat Baniel Method
or
both

and that's 22 minutes
and the talk is "supposed to be 10"
and we haven't even glanced at why Austin,

or what is the journey
to get to the table

or what is the journey of someone on the table

alas,
more torommow me thinks,
this same blogspot

ciao
for
now

Chris

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

All of Life

marlie witch happy


marlie tongue happy


marlie sweet happy

marlie too sweet happy

life has many faces
and the outside
face
isn't
always the inner
joy

which is always
there,
even
when
we forget

so, hey, some days we are happy
and we know it

some days we "think"
we are unhappy
and that usually makes
us
"feel" unhappy

and the word "makes"
is very interesting

what if we took over
and said:
I am, now, making myself
unhappy

and then,
guess what,
we can return to one of the essentials
of real life,
the essential of
curiosity

And from the curiosity
at our core
we can
wonder,
ah, yes,
we can
wonder,
wonderful person that we are,
just how are we
making ourselves
unhappy.

A grand question:
How am I, right now, using my so called thinking,
and my body rigidity
and my mental inflexibility
and my seeing the world as all about me, me, me
how am I using all this not-really-me-ness
to make "me"
unhappy?

So, wonderful life,
on the "good" days,
and wonderful life,
and wonderful opportunity,
on the "bad" days,
when unhappiness arises.

The opportunity to wonder
to explore
to inquire
to go inside
to listen
to discover
to recover
to uncover
who we really are
beneath
the so-called
'unhappiness."

And to discover, recover and so on,
the HOW of
how we "make" ourselves
unhappy?

Unhappiness good?
No.
Unhappiness bad?
No.
Unhappiness a trip we trap and trip
ourselves in?
Yes.

And the clowning around in the faces
above,
ah,
sometimes
on other, brighter days,
we can pretend to be caught in
the spells
that sometimes really catch
us

Play around with how
lost we can
be sometimes

And inside that play,
the realization
of how amazing this being alive
thing
is.


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Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Hello "New"

salvia
sunny jan 1, salvia still in bloom near house

living room
sunny day, sweet room we'll be leaving soon

Marlie is
wonderful
Chris is
wonderful
today is
wonderful

my left hand
doing the writing honors this morning,
wonderful

the bed warm
and friendly
the morning pages
the long legs
warm
her next to me
the scratch of
the pen
the light
coming in
the window
the breathing
coming in
and out
wonderful

the thought:
this is "too long"
wonderful

the thought:
this is just long enough
wonderful

the you
reading this
wonderful

the you
not reading this
wonderful

the day rising up
and swirling with
or without
us
wonderful

the questions:
should i write
more
wonderful

the answer
i don't know
that
sweet
i don't know
ah,
wonderful,
too,

of course,


happy
new
years'
day
say
hey


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