Remember the clear light, the pure clear white light from which everything in the universe comes, to which everything in the universe returns; the original nature of your own mind. The natural state of the universe unmanifest. Let go into the clear light, trust it, merge with it. It is your own true nature, it is home.
~Tibetan Book of the Dead
I know it's been said before (and I'm sure more eloquently), but the best thing about traveling is coming home. I just returned from 5 days in Georgia visiting family in Atlanta, Rome, and Marietta. As wonderful as it was to see everybody, it is so very good to be back home again. It was absolutely beautiful in Georgia--green and lush and really perfect temperatures mostly in the 70s--and I wondered how my tan hills would compare. But not to worry, California is still very much my home, and my first glimpse of the Bay Area through the airplane window this morning brought a huge smile to my face. My husband, Sean, picked me up at the airport and I was so grateful to get to spend some brief time with him before he had to head back to the office. And while my grandparents' new kitten, Sweetie, completely stole my heart, my girls, Gryphon and Morgan, were waiting for me here and haven't left my side even for a second since I walked in the front door. Travel brings newness, curiosity, reunion, but home brings a comfortable bliss that just can't be beat. Namaste.
Photo: "California Poppies," originally uploaded by docentjoyce
Today is one of those days where you truly appreciate Joni Mitchell's song California. No matter how beautiful the rest of the world is, California is home. "So I bought me a ticket / I caught a plane to Spain / Went to a party down a red dirt road / There were lots of pretty people there / Reading Rolling Stone, reading Vogue / They said, how long can you hang around? / I said a week, maybe two / Just until my skin turns brown / Then I'm going home to California / California I'm coming home / Oh will you take me as I am / Strung out on another man / California I'm coming home."
It was 75 and sunny today, the prototypical beautiful California day. Plus, my cleaning lady came today--I know, such a splurge but SO worth it--so I vacated the premises for the afternoon. I went for a walk around downtown. I meditated by a fountain. I infected people with my smiling, so that as I passed they broke out into big grins as well. I browsed an arts and crafts store, imagining all the creative projects I could undertake. I hung out at Starbucks and watched the people come and go, read a book. It was pure bliss. And then when I came home, my apartment smelled like that wonderful smell that tells me Vilma has been here, everything is clean and in its place and the world is orderly and wonderful, and I felt as close to perfection as I probably ever will. Ah yes, today was absolutely fantastic.
I wonder what new and exciting fun tomorrow will bring?
Dorothy was right -- there really is no place like home. The air is warm and clear, my cats are cuddling up with me, and perhaps most importantly, I have no obligations weighing on me. I am beautifully, gloriously not busy. I am so grateful to all the work I did before my trip that resulted in a smooth Connecticut experience, however I have absolutely no desire to do any further work myself right now. That earlier feeling of not wanting to take a vacation is completely gone, and I'm giving myself the rest of the year off -- a vacation to recuperate from my vacation. Some time to dabble in the age-old joy of doing nothing. My friend and mentor Caroline Reynolds is calling 2008 the Year of Power. Amen! And so I'm going to spend the next couple of days powering down -- for me, another form of healing, of rejuvenating -- so that I can power up successfully and hit the ground running in the new year.
So, enjoy the festivities, whatever you choose to participate in, and I will see you in the new year, ready to experience its unfoldment into the love and light that I know it is bringing. Namaste.
