thru my lens lightly

Flying Free

Banners decorating the streets in Las Varas, Nayarit, Mexico

I've been flying under the wire for the past two weeks...we were busy in a really good holiday-kind-of-way with family while they were here with us. Dad and Ona flew back to Canada several days ago, with hopes of the worst of winter being over and the best of spring, not far away. (I think spring is being as illusive in British Columbia as it is in the rest of Canada this year) It was also difficult to get a sustainable internet connection where we were staying, which made the decision to leave the computer unopened a lot easier.

We're coming to the realization that our stay in Guayabitos is rapidly coming to an end.  We still have another week here but it's gone shockingly fast.  Thankfully, we still have 3 more weeks in Mexico but the last two will be away from the beach, in the mountains at San Miguel de Allende.  At the beginning of my stay, I asked the question...'would a life time of this be heaven or would it drive me crazy".  Even then, I felt I could tolerate a lot of this easy living, but after 5 weeks, I now KNOW that I could slip into 'less doing and more being" very easily.  Maybe it's just my personality, or my age and stage in life, but I love the lack of structure and easy flow of life here!

And that lack of structure and easy flow looks like it's going to continue for awhile.  Last week we sold our home!  After 2 years of it being on and off the market, we are now home free!  When we arrive home around mid March we'll be packing and arranging storage for our belongings.

  

What's the next step?? 

We're really not sure just yet, but we think it involves even more travel...maybe a home on wheels for awhile...discovering new places and spaces.  Meeting new people.  Eventually we'd like to build a new home...something smallish and cozy. 

 

But not just yet.

 

When The Moon is in The Seventh House

 

Ok, I know I'm really dating myself, but as a product of the Hippy Dippy generation of the 60's, I loved the musical Hair.  I had a cassette tape of the "album" in 1969 and a brand new very, very modern cassette player.  I played the music over and over and knew almost every song by heart.  The Broadway play rocked the world with it's nudity, multi-racial cast, and it's open discussion of drugs and sexuality.   The flower power of the 60's was in full bloom! 

The anthem song of the musical "The Age of Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine" has the following phrase in it...

When the Moon is in the seventh house
and Jupiter aligns with Mars.
Then peace will guide the planets
and love will steer the stars.

Well guess what!  On Saturday the moon will be in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars!  I received the following email/Valentine today from Amber Wolfe who, along with her husband Syd, own the Phoenix Healing Centre in Longmont, Co.

On February 14, 2009 the moon will be in the 7th house. Jupiter will align with Mars. If the prediction in the song proves valid, this will mean...peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars.  This is a lot of astrology, but if you follow it, it is amazing and in-HEARTENING!

"In mid February a rare astrological concentration brings together a number of planets with the North Node (denoting higher purpose) in Aquarius that energizes and inspires the possibility for transcendental breakthrough in some perhaps seemingly intransigent situations.

At dawn on 14th February, the day dedicated to St. Valentine, the patron saint of Love, the Moon in Libra enters the seventh house of relationships. And Jupiter and Mars are aligned in Aquarius in the twelfth house of spiritual transformation; the Cosmos actually embodies this perfect alignment to support our collective manifestation of love and peace and dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

The details: The Aquarian chart of 14th February reveals an incredible concentration of cosmic influences blending with the energies of Aquarius. Expansive Jupiter and energetic Mars are aligned with higher purpose. The presence of Chiron, the wounded healer, offers us the opportunity to heal the schisms that have separated us for so long. Neptune emphasizes collective humanitarian movements and the co-creation of social justice. And the presence of the radiant Sun enlightens the entire alignment.
Mercury also in the twelfth house, allies with transformational Pluto to communicate and anchor the Shift throughout our global structures and institutions.
The Moon in Libra emphasizes the harmonious seventh house relationships. Venus in Aries in the first house energizes and empowers dynamic co-creativity.
And while Saturn, the great task master, in opposition to Uranus the unexpected awakener, is suggesting an ongoing confrontation as the dregs of the unsustainable old paradigms reluctantly give way to the untested hope of the new, their placements in Virgo and Pisces brings practical altruism and visionary inspiration to the transition."

At 7:25am on 14th February - and for the 18 minutes of the alignment, we invite you,in the universal heart, to add your own intention for love and peace and to co-create the dawning of the Age of Aquarius to that of the Cosmos, in whatever way feels appropriate for you.  You may choose to align with 7:25am (GMT) or 7:25am local time energizing a wave of intention that will surge around the Earth.   

Please feel free to circulate the invitation to birth the Age of Aquarius.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  Dr Sid and Dr Amber Wolf

And Happy Valentine's Day from me too, as we walk into the Age of Aquarius! 

Hanging Out

I love the tropical flowers of Mexico...they're similar to those I've seen in Thailand and Hawaii, but I'm most familiar with them here.   I believe this lovely vine that I found cascading over the roof of a restaurant is called a Blue Sky Vine...but I may be wrong and if anyone can verify or correct me on this, I'd be most grateful.

We've been "hanging out" with my dad, my brother and his wife and an old family friend for the past week.  It's been fairly low key here as dad tires if we push it (heck, I tire if we push it!) but his stamina and determination at 93 is amazing.  We're combining an early morning at the La Penita market with breakfast tomorrow, whale watching on Friday and a trip to visit hot springs up in the mountains on Sunday...did I say low key???

Needless to say, time for anything creative is fairly limited right now but at the same time I'm also not feeling very creative.  I think I'll send a lot of my art supplies home with my friend Ona when she and dad leave next week.  I'm feeling much as I did last summer when I was integrating new energy, new thoughts and new processes into my life. 

It's an odd feeling...like things are settling into place...click, click, click.  Like coins dropping into an old fashioned coin sorter that feeds different sized coins into different slots.  Click, click, click. 

And there are times when I feel like I'm on the verge of grasping some amazing new concept or way of being...I can feel it, almost taste it...but then when I "try" to put a name to it or identify it, it slips away.  As soon as I attempt to grasp it, to hold it, it's gone...disintegrating into nothing.  Later,when I'm sitting quietly and looking out at the ocean or focusing on breathing, it's there again...the feeling that I'm totally safe, completely loved, and a part of something vast and overwhelmingly beautiful.  It's not a thought and it doesn't come from my mind .  It's just there...waiting for me to allow it in.  I want to reach out and grasp it, to capture it like a firefly...but it doesn't work that way.

I found this poem from the Tao Te Ching, written by Lao Tzu recently and the questions asked, have been lingering with me:

Can you marry your spirit and body to
the oneness and never depart from it?
Can you ride your breath until your entire
being is as supple as the body of an infant?
Can you cleanse your inner vision until you
see heaven in every direction?
Can you love people and govern them without
conniving and manipulating?
Can you bear heaven's children in all that
you do and are?
Can you give the wisdom of your heart precedence
over the learning of your head?

Yes, in a theoretical way...in the learning of my head...I know the way and the truth of this.  But this...what I've been experiencing, is different. 

This sits patiently waiting to be fully experienced by the wisdom of my heart. 

Rhythm's

I've slowly been slipping into a rhythm of delicious decadence...sleeping, eating, writing, walking, eating, swimming, writing, chatting, eating, reading, sleeping...and so it goes.  I can't decide whether a life of this would be sheer heaven or if ultimately, it would drive me crazy.  I'm leaning towards heaven.

 

I'm enjoying the daily walk into town via the beach.  It feels wonderful to be getting some exercise again but paddling through the water as I walk up the beach doesn't feel at all like exercise.  Hauling heavy bags of groceries home makes me feel even more virtuous and my margarita at happy hour goes down with hardly any guilt after that!

There's always lots to see and if I get thirsty on the way...

or hungry, like these guys...no problem!  These pelicans are always hungry and never give up hope that this vendor will toss them a fish.

There's even entertainment to be had!  These fellows really earn the money they make working on a hot beach.

In fact, everyone who works the beach, works hard...really hard.  They have my deepest admiration and if I could, I'd buy something from everyone, everyday.

Carrying my grocery bags home is a pretty insignificant effort compared to what these people do all day!