Connections

The Day
I woke up on my own as I usually do, did some Self-Breemas, had an apple and some tea, and then did some graphic design and other computer work.

The office space is connected with the living-room, with a screen in between, so I can walk over to the padded carpet and do more Self-Breemas whenever the need comes up. I am partially facing a large window two floors off the ground, with a view to lush greenery - ground cover, tall trees and vines. There is a path going down right by the house, where I can see deer and sometimes raccoons, cats and other animals walk. I can see squirrels running along branches and up and down the trunks, and occasionally chase each other in a mad race. I sometimes see hawks sitting in the taller branches, eating a small animal. I can see the light change throughout the day, and the rain and effects of the breeze. I had the window open today, and heard the occasional rain and smelled the earthy and sweet spring scents. I walked over to the kitchen for some spice (yogi) tea and to fill up my water pitcher, and make breakfast and lunch. I listened to Yasmin Levy and Palestrina.

In the late afternoon, I walked down to the bus stop which is two minutes from here. The air was fresh and fragnant after the rain, and the sun came through. Downtown, I dropped off books at the library, exchanged a CD at a local classical music store across from the library (got Rachmaninov's All Night Vigil performed by Paul Hillier), and walked over to a restaurant where Jen and I were meeting Dick and Sara from the Northwest Earth Institute. The dinner was just right in taste and amount, and we talked about how the course starts were going here in Eugene (13 groups started since January, at the local power company, city, some architecture/engineering firms, a research institution, several neighborhood groups, a church group) and our lives in general. Later, we had a meeting with local initiators and planned the fall phase, and we also got people for a steering committee and other volunteer roles. Now, we are back for a quiet evening.

Qualities
After coming back, I was struck again tonight of how my life takes on a quite different character depending on where I live.

In Oslo, I lived an intensely passionate life with deep and daily meditation and prayer, art, studies at the university (psychology and history of art), deep conversations, profuse reading (Jung, philosophy, Buddhism, systems theories, psychology, Jes Bertelsen) and many walks in the woods and in the parks.

In Salt Lake City, I lived at the Zen center and did a daily meditation practice of 3+ hours, in addition to passionate and deeply rewarding studies at the University of Utah, along with hikes in the mountains and the desert, and photography.

In Wisconsin, much of my support structure was pulled away for engaging actively in a spiritual practice and art. Instead, I found a deep connection with the land and the community, and found a deeply meaningful work in coordinating a local nonprofit organization focusing on a solution- and partnership-oriented approach to local sustainability.

Here in Oregon, I found Breema - which has the combination of spiritual practice and profoundly transformative bodywork that I have been looking for over many years, an active permaculture group, and I am helping start up NWEI discussion courses as I did in Wisconsin.

The first phase was about very focused exploration in meditation, art and intimate relationships. The second, about stabilizing my spiritual practice and intellectual pursuits. The third, about dropping the (obvious) spiritual practice and focus on my engagement with the land and community. The fourth, about a new integration.