Magia Bella: bella-magic.com

Sickest Buddhist from GenerateLA on Vimeo.

Enjoy a nice brew with your longest day or night, whether it be tea or something a wee bit stronger.

[No, the blog hasn't expired, it's just resting a bit.]




photo credit: ario_j

The laptop was getting crufty and slow. Performed a backup, then zero’d out the data on the hard drive, effectively “wiping the slate clean”. Re-installed the operating system and all the preferred applications. Started importing data back into apps such as Journler, NewsFire and Firefox, and found the data either unavailable or mangled beyond fixing.

I thought I’d be upset. What I felt, instead, was liberated.

All those bits and bobs, marked articles, and dusty bookmarks that I was saving because they were at one time useful are now gone. In the space left by their absence is the opportunity to start afresh, or to save nothing at all! The delightful experience carried me into a big house purge and re-organization. There’s so little I really need. This is wonderful.

photo credit: sea turtle

May this particular rotation and angle of the Earth towards the Sun find you happy and well.

photo credit: poolski

Earlier this week, I was “stuck” in Austin. It was afternoon rush hour, and I didn’t feel like fighting traffic to get home. I called a friend and bribed her with an offer of dinner if she’d help me pass the time until rush hour was over. She suggested meeting at a tea house near her work, to which I agreed.

I arrived frazzled and out-of-sorts. The last few days had been busy, even frantic at times. I looked over the tea menu, and ordered a house-blend that was purported to be vata soothing. Oooh, and soothing it was… I don’t know if it was something in that tea, or if it was simply the act of sitting down and drinking a warm, smooth brew, but I could feel the tension and stress melting away bit by bit. It became easier to breathe. I could feel consciousness settling back into my body, instead of hovering in my head and above.

Before I left, I bought some of that vata-soothing blend, and their shanti (tulsi) blend as well. I’ve had tea before; all sorts of tea. This incredible sensual experience, however, is when I fell in love with tea.

photo credit: geekgirlunveiled

What the hell happened? Oh yeah - surgery, extended recovery, getting co-op approval to sell our eggs, a family member’s visit, and this week, a bad case of the lazy “I-Don’t-Wanna’s”.

Regardless, I’ve been receiving internal and external promptings to write and to purify, so let this be the start.

There’s been an urge to clean up the diet. Not so hard as there’s not much to clean up, but very hard in that the little there is to “clean up” is something I hold near and dear. Caffeine. A few gluten-free goodies that have sugar. The once-a-week soda. Then there’s the additions: making use of the spring greens in the CSA basket. Drinking more (lots more) water. Taking vitamins and the probiotics to replenish what was lost in the last round of antibiotics.

A pair of new running shoes have been purchased to replace the worn out pair that have been relegated to farm chores. Another acquisition: a much, MUCH longer strand of meditation beads. A book I’ve long wanted to read was made available: “Emptiness Dancing” by Adyashanti (a western-trained Zen teacher). A return to daily spiritual practices of alignment and purification.

And in the midst of all this, a bright, shining happiness has been filling the days. It’s not connected to any one thing, or even my mood. It’s more like a foundation that is there if I remember to look down at my feet. If I remember to breathe, to reconnect to center. This is all leading to somewhere, even if that “somewhere” is really nowhere but right here and now, which I’m guessing it is. So let’s go.

photo credit: KirkD2009

A few years ago I had a “bad feeling”, and warned friends and relatives to pay off their bills and get their matters squared away, that there was some bad shit coming down the pike. That bad shit is arriving, and the light at the end of the tunnel is the oncoming train.

No government can fix this. No cult of personality can sway the consequences of what has been brought about. The only way through this time is through it. This morning I find myself grieving the passing of a dream, of the illusion of a strong and mighty nation. We’ll emerge from this, no doubt, but in what form remains to be seen.

Take good care of your friends, families, neighbors and self. Take deep breaths. Know the love in your life, and keep on keeping on. As always, this moment is all we have, no matter what swirling of fate or drama surrounds our lives.

photo credit: niznoz

Miss Crabbypants (yours truly) was driving into work earlier this evening, replaying stories about the previous week’s work drama over and over in her head. Thankfully, she noticed in the distance that there was summer lightning in the winter clouds above the city - the type of lightning that bathes the cloud tops in a flash of yellows and shadows. With a sense of awe, she humbly closed down the story-shop for the rest of the drive.

photo credit: Puddles

Attending a birthday party last night, a beautiful 9 year old girl walked amongst the guests, encouraging them to blindly pick a card out of a pack. “It’s a prophecy for your year ahead” she said, “and you get to keep the card!” What I drew:

Beyond the stories you
repeat over and over is
true spirit unfolding and
radiating outward in
spirals with no words. A
single strand of spidersilk
between trees is how
strong and fragile it all is.

photo credit: alex_ford

Almost forgot, today (January 26th) is China’s New Year - The Year of the Ox. Happy New Year!

photo credit: ~ Xu