time for a little update, live from a beautiful morning in boulder. joseph campbell writes a lot about the hero’s journey. he says there is a process of following our bliss we see happen across history and cultures. first we recognize an ‘inner knowing’ about our calling or our work. we feel a spark. next, we go through a deep period of letting go and shedding. this slice of the cycle is an angsty one where we must sever our attachments to all the things society has told us to value: plans, money, security. we let go of the things that hold us back from making our dreams reality one by one. campbell says many people get stuck right here in the shedding, instead falling back into their old patterns of security. if we can endure this sort of hellish period of letting go, though, we emerge out the other side rooted and ready to trust our bliss. and when have faith in the initial spark, when we say ‘yes’ to it, we start to see life align itself in the most beautiful of ways to make our dreams reality.
after months of being in the hell, i’m happy to report i’ve made it out. it actually may have even been years. this last season has been a blessed one packed with travel to a handful of beautiful landscapes. hawaii, LA, the sonoma county coast, israel, jordan, santa fe. each place has given me a little bit of a glimpse into what has been pulling me and time away from home is always perfect for clarity on what we’re getting caught up in. to make a crazy long story short, two years ago i applied to acupuncture school. my goal? to run a community clinic, work at the intersection of populations who don’t have access to health insurance but also have a high level of chronic illness and stress.. and to spend some time doing the same abroad. i then got caught up in my mountain life and the need to heal myself after my years in DC.. delaying school until the dream faded. a few months ago, i found myself still wanting to do healing work, but got hooked on going to medical school. yea, that’s right, MD. if i could do it, why not? we all know, after all, that we need some more holistic docs out there. it wasn’t until the MD path felt like more and more of a reality that the whisper of clarity that the path didn’t fit me began to get louder and louder. i know i want to learn the body in a deeply holistic way… in a way that integrates with the yoga i teach.. and i want to be able to provide a cheap, powerful medicine to this world. after millions of hikes with the best of friends, meditation, my experience in israel, the huge hearts of good community, and a lot of shadowing, i began to let go of MD and let acupuncture back in. it hasn’t been easy. letting go of ego. security. financial prospects. but i’m here oh so happy to say i said yes to what i want deep down. and you know what? when i did, just like that life opened.
i’m now taking a few classes here and there with the hopes of getting into a school i really love in seattle come may. the school is all about training acupuncturists committed to working in a health/justice setting. it also meets just once a month on a forest island outside the city for a few days. i mean really? take a boat to a forest to study acupuncture, qi gong, and eastern nutrition. that’s a dream. and even cooler news? it wasn’t around when i was first looking at school. another little affirmation that our life calendars unfold as they’re supposed to.. i waited two extra years so my pursuit of the work was timed with the launch of the program. i’ve also recently taken on a role in an organization that teaches nurses in areas with healthcare access issues (primarily the global south) a basic acupuncture system of 25 points. they’re powerful for treating chronic pain, the side effects of HIV/AIDs meds and even the inflammation of the spleen malaria causes (something there aren’t yet meds to treat). so that’s it. the update. i’m blessed to get to channel my love of healing through acupuncture and my justice, non-profit management loving self into this organization whose work i love so, so much. as i get into school and get deeper into the organizational work, i have no doubt i’ll share details here. let’s just say i may be in uganda, mexico and el salvador in the next year. here’s to following your bliss. and loving the fear and struggle that comes with it.
a friend posted this gravestone photo and i have to say, i hope mine says exactly the same. i love this.
dreaming of rainy washington state with mr. iver in my headphones.
More and more the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, sit up on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have time to practice the simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, and to be a part of some impressive project is so strong, that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans; not to organize people around an urgent cause; not to feel that you are working directly with social progress but I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and to tell your own. To let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them but you really love them.
—Henri Nouwen
i don’t usually post videos that are flying around but this one. well. it’s beautiful and proof of the power we have when we believe in ourselves. it’s also a personal reminder of why i fell in love with yoga.. and why i do again and again.
You must cast aside doubt, feed your curiosity, trust your instincts. Only in hindsight can we connect the dots that underpin a creative life.
—Chicago paleontologist Paul Serento
i love good covers like this one. mm.
so much opened up on this trip to israel and jordan. as i hang out here waiting to start a 36 hour journey home, i’m not sure where to start with reflections but in time, they will come. for now, the one thing i’m feeling over and over again is huge gratitude. for this adventure, for connecting with beautiful people in beautiful places and for the abundance of love i’m headed home to. more updates when i land stateside and recover from jetlag.
