Apparently I took January off from blog-land. Hmm. January is typically a long month and this was no different. I stopped working at Xerox on 12/31/08, and have been employed only by Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society since. It was a long journey, but once I walked away from Xerox, I have not looked back. As with anything else, I miss the friendships, but email is always there. Now there is the challenge of something totally new and different. My personal demon is self-doubt, but it seems to be hanging back at the moment. I've had a few nights of wide open eyes, but was able to stay in the moment and the day was fine. Fear hasn't lingered. Lot's of things have gone on in January.
-- I started teaching meditation at a couple of recovery centers and I am in heaven. I cannot believe how much I enjoy it, but I think the reaction of the people and how it makes even the smallest difference to them is such a joy to behold.
-- My niece Monica and her husband Kevin came out from Philadelphia and spent a week with us. Monica wanted to spend her 40th birthday in LA with so many of her friends. She is a lovely diva and had her party at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA. Now that's a swanky place. We had much fun that week.
-- I got another tattoo, this of a sock bunny over my heart. Retreat after retreat has brought up how much more time I want to be with my husband. For some reason we've called each other bunny for years (origins lost in the mists of time, you know). So I got a bunny over my heart. It's almost our 20th wedding anniversary so I've decided to make a commitment. Ha. [pictures eventually].
-- Cried and cried and cried over Obama and the inauguration and the important message he brings to us about taking responsibility and being accountable, oh, and being here for each other.
-- Inauguration day is also the anniversary of my father's death. He died the day Kennedy was inaugurated. I was five, but my brother, who was attending West Point at the time, was actually in Washington at a color guard or something. Those memories are always there.
-- Learning, learning, learning. It's all about learning new things all the time.
-- I read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. Greg my boss at Xerox told me I HAD to read it. It's great and so chock full of information. I don't necessarily agree that free-markets are a panacea but I feel I know so much more about the global phenomenon than I did before. And it's an easy read. Glad Greg is still my friend.
-- Gone are the 8-5, 40-hour work weeks. Now it's working when there is stuff to be done. Saturday? Sunday? Evening? Yeah. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
-- Is everyone an Aquarius?
And a bunch of other stuff. Hi everyone. Hope you're all well...Good to be back. I missed you.
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In Tell Tamar with our cook Abu Asher to the left of Rasha, and our driver to the right. The wonderful Fonda (who now works for the ACLU in Boise) is sitting along the river.
