Just The Way It Is... Again

I’ve pretty much gotten over trying to figure out why I am living in an ashram for 2 weeks – and am actually beginning to experience it --- just the way it is.

Life here is very busy. There are always things to do. I work a lot in the kitchen preparing the mid-day meal which usually serves a dozen or more people. Yesterday I made granola – it’s really easy and it was cooked in the solar oven. Life is constant – demanding and easy at the same time. Living off the grid and eating 80% raw is another story.

Today is day 19. I will be traveling for a total of 40 days – so it’s another almost half way point. I do find my thoughts periodically wondering what the purpose of this is and what I will do when I get home and then I hear myself say, “You’ll know when you know. It is--- just the way it is."

On Sunday, I attended the Carmelite Mass. The sermon was entitled Beautifully Broken. The Carmelites are great. They recognize our human struggles, foibles and the suffering that comes from shame, hurts, compromised self- image and an over active ego. They have a unique way of embracing it all. A wonderful poem by Mary Oliver was read and another by D.H Lawrence.

Imagine feeling perfectly worthy of being fully loved and knowing your imperfections do not impede the capacity to receive love. You know what this means, don’t you? It means… we can love ourselves our beautifully broken selves--- just the way we are.

Today is Tuesday and it is my day off. Each week we get an entire day off. I am borrowing a summer resident’s car and traveling to the closest large town, Alamosa. It’s about 50 miles away. I will go to the food co-op, the pharmacy, the supermarket and I will pick up some Vietnamese food for lunch. Then I will go to the hot mineral springs to soak for a few hours in the Lithium water… and I will be meeting the dentist I met in Boulder for dinner at 5:30. (Read about my Trans IN Dental Experience – Blog dated June 22)

I feel like I am reporting and sense a rather different tone to this blog than the many others I’ve written before. And that’s Ok because –

It is --- Just the way it is! Hey, you know what… this little saying really works. It allows everything to be as it is. Try this on for size today and let me know how it works for you. Would love comments and will post them too!