Monday, November 18, 2013

La misma onda. My favorite phrase in Spanish, "The same wavelength."
I have had a magical two weeks since my last post.

Two weekends ago, I attended Dare to Be Square, an annual Square Dancing workshop/festival on the West Coast. This was the first time LA has hosted, and I have offered to host DtbS 2015 in Ecuador! I really want to continue square dancing down there, so I better keep in practice and putting out the vibration to find other interested folks.

I've also been attending weekly Irish music gatherings, including every Monday night at the Celtic Arts Center, North Hollywood; and a slow/beginners session in Playa del Rey (although it's a struggle for me to get out there with a cello & no car). Both are free, if anyone cares to join me. I'm also hoping to start playing Irish music with my next-door neighbor & some friends, here in Hollywood, when I return from Ecuador in January. Let me know if you want to join the craic!

Yesterday, I rented a car to drive all the way to Santa Clarita for a monthly Irish music session, which turned out to be much smaller than I expected. However, all was not lost when a Peruvian man stood up to share his rendition of El Cóndor Pasa on pan flute, as heard at the beginning of the Simon & Garfunkel cover of it. When he finished, he mentioned he is interested in fusing Irish & South American music. I stood up and excitedly announced that I too was interested in doing the same, in Ecuador. James Torres tells me he has many Ecuadorean friends in LA, so now we are planning a potluck at my house, to introduce me to them! Turns out I went to an Irish meet-up to connect with Ecuadoreans. The Grand Conjunction is stronger than ever with me, now that I have submitted my will to her.

I'd rather be a forest than a street.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely woud.

I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet,
Yes I would.
If I only could,
I surely would.


And so, Ecuador calls...

On the work front, I have voiced over a dozen spots so far this month for United Health (the largest "health" carrier on the planet - creepy), so keep an ear out for me on your TVs, radios & intrawebs. And if you hear a mean girl on the radio, talking about free coffee at McDonald's, that'd be me too. Time to ramp up my charitable giving! (See previous post about working for evil corporations)

On the real estate front, I got two bits of good news. Firstly, I learned that I can cash in my Roth IRA, with no penalty, at any time. This increases my housing budget by $40k!
Secondly, the property I mentioned earlier, which really caught my eye, is still available! Seems the owners only go online a few times a month (can you imagine? what a dream), so I just heard back from them. It is much farther away from my friend and agent, Noelia, than I hoped for (8 hours, not 2 or 3), so I would be more isolated (click to see the satellite of the Amazon), and would have to rent it out to someone to look after it until I move down there full-time in 2014 or 15.

People often ask me what I plan to "do down there." I have many different answers to this question, two of which are, "Retire," and, "Same things I do here in LA - ride my bike, meditate, do yoga, play cello, read books, hang out in my hammock, prepare & eat meals, entertain Chimney Sweep, etc." Another answer I have is that I am feeling called to work in hospice.

As some of you know, I recently dated my first/last alcoholic (and a Marine to boot - ugh) - and it was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. I grew up around the disease, so I never considered it something I needed to write someone off for. Some of my favorite people are alcoholics! However, they are in recovery - this man was decidedly not, getting black-out drunk on a regular basis. I have also since realized he has some serious sociopathic tendencies, which turns out is not so very rare in America (4%) - especially in the Marines.

Anyway, this alcoholic sociopath claims to be dying young (although, now I'm not so certain anything he ever told me was true). His impending death and complete lack of unwillingness to discuss it reminded me that, many years ago, I once thought I might like to work in hospice. I felt this calling for the first time after meeting Mary Mohs and Ron Valle, of The Awakening Center for Exploring Living & Dying, though my Vedic yoga tradition. Over a decade later, I am hearing the calling again. I want to help people die! Any takers?

Up next, I am flying to Sedona, to visit the director of a documentary I narrated this year, Change: The Life Particle Effect, and spend Thanksgiving week there. Will report more when I return!

2 comments:

  1. :) wow cool stuff going on! If the potluck is before Dec 4th we'll be there, but Dec 4th is our set in stone unchangeable leaving date!

    I'll listen out for you on the United Health Ads!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOVE LOVE LOVE going to an Irish Music Fest in order to discover South American connections! You are in the flow, my friend! Keep us all posted... love seeing your dreams unfold.... xoxoxox, Laura

    ReplyDelete