my mom, kate, and i had such a beautiful and peaceful adventure in matilija canyon, ojai.
ojai is one of my favorite places in the whole wide world! i go to the canyon sometimes in my mind during meditation and in savasana, and it's always so wondeful and welcoming :).
a few more days left here on the magical west coast- i am cherishing every moment here until i come back for good! ;) heheh..
hope y'all are having a lovely summer week! sending you warmth and light from sunny california!
this place is sooo good! they make breakfast style bowls with so many awesome, delicious, and healthy ingredients. like: acai, granola, hempseed, yogurt, spirulina, fresh organic local fruits, cottage cheese, bee pollen, etc... many many tasty bowls to choose from! i am kinda hooked on the same bowl and haven't yet ordered anything different- you know how it is- when you love a food, why not always order it? i love the cottage cheese bowl with acai- shown above. ;)
i went here the other day with my dear lil family and we all had such a nice time with our bowls, see? (and my dad is wearing a purusha tee i made him for father's day- aw!)
reason # 1 of 1,000,000 i love california and need to live here. hehe ;)
love you all, and hope you're having a healthy and fun week with lots of time for your family. xo!
today, as we celebrate our country's freedom from britain, let us contemplate our freedom within our own minds.
just like america "outgrew" the reign and control from its parent country england, similarly we can learn to let go and break free from outdated and untrue thought patterns. things perhaps we used to believe, that we placed value and pride in, can be released with practice and with patience like a wave coming in and clearing the sands.
we are not slaves to our thoughts and they only have power once reflected upon frequently. yet if we fill our heads with positive things, with love and compassion and openness, we will see that we can become what is good and free.
with full deep breaths and a constant and kind surveillance of what you are thinking (with no judgement), we can truly change the people we think we are. this freedom of thought is always waiting for us. we each have such a graceful innate power within ourselves to continuously change our minds.
so today, as we celebrate and be merry, perhaps take some moments to watch the breath and observe the thoughts. never believe for an instant "this is just how i am". NO.
you are perfect- open minded, patient, loving, tolerant, aware, and kind. sometimes we just lose track of our natural peaceful state and need a gentle reminder from the observer within that we are in fact everything we've ever dreamed of.
today patrick and i were planning on going to the beach- watch hill, ri- one of my favorite places in the world!
we were looking at the weather and it said 'mostly cloudy' so we were like... hmmm should we go or should we not?
this morning, pat and i woke up a little later than planned, but still wanted to beach it up! however, i had to get an oil change first. so i headed to the collinsville quick lube- and it was closed. unsure why... so i went to advanced auto in canton. it was kinda pricey for no reason, whatevs, and i went to pay with my debit card. my debit card was declined!
first of all- always embarrassing to get your card rejected, and second i know i have $$! so wtf man?! (i was also feeling kinda embarrassed cause my car has sooo much dog hair in it- oops, but this was forgotten as my card was swiped 3 times to be declined over and over.)
i called my bank and found i had -$75!!! what?! i went home, long story short, learned someone hacked into my card and spent around $600 on truphone, adt, etc. i cried and felt pissed and violated. and i'm mad 'cause i'm going to california tomorrow with no debit card or $... so i gotta figure that out. : /
pat and i decided maybe today wasn't the best beach day and i didn't want to go with no $, so we decided stay-cation we would. honestly, it doesn't even matter where we go, i am so happy and peaceful just to be around patrick and liam.
so the 3 of us went to petco to get liam his favorite yoghund frozen yogurt, then we got some decent red wine. hehe we are like poor ghetto people. we poured the red wine in a water bottle in the car and drank some on the way to whole foods. tiny dancer came on the radio and we turned it up loud while passing the red in the water bottle back and forth. pat and i laughed as we thought- this is our vacation day together. declined cards, wine in a water bottle, and shitty music on the radio. at whole foods we ate a tasty lunch and i'm happy to say patrick has become a kale convert- he loves it- so that's a plus.
pat and i bought some food to make for dinner tonight, then on the way home i stopped in the bank to get a new card and last i popped into bed bath and beyond to buy some vacuum cleaner bags to clean our hairy house and my furry car. now this is living!
haha, and i must go now as we are going to do take a dip in the reservoir and throw some sticks for liam to fetch in the still waters.
no pics for today :( sorry. thought that was kinda ironic too, that this semi-crap day is undocumented visually.
lesson for today: plans change, we must roll with it. nothing is perfect and shit happens. and that's ok, as long as we are safe, well fed, and surrounded with unconditional love.
amidst a little bad luck, the sun is shining and i can always crawl into my love's warm arms.
EDIT: we just got back from the reservoir. we left our sunny backyard to drive into huge grey clouds at the res, and wouldn't you know as soon as we left, for patrick to go to work, the sun came out. some days that's just how it is.
on the way home, we laughed. we're laughing about it already ;).
so much of my life has been trying to hold on, tight. controlling, planning, expecting... those were my rules. approval from others and being loved and admired were the most important things in my life.
that was my shortlived, unfulfilled, and unsatisfied journey outward.
about 5 years ago i decided i was tired of not feeling good.
life is for living and for feeling GOOD, not for regrets and bad moods. it's too short of a time here to not feel the embodiment of love and light as often as we can.
so now i'm on a journey inward.
this journey never ends and there is no destination.
i can't and i won't be concerned with results, expectations, and appearances. i vow to do everything for it's own sake not matter what the outcome. if i am doing good things and trying my best, the effects will come out exactly as they should. as long as i say focused on my awareness, my intention; and on love, laughter, and acceptance life will continue to grow rich like a fine wine.
it's funny- you think there's so much for you out there in the world.
i mean, there is! but the planet is like an untapped resource until we go within, and find the billions of light years deep paths leading to our source. how can we even know how to maintain the planet and its beings, touch and effect others, spread our passions and talents if we haven't even learned how to love and respect our SELVES?
and your SELF is the same as myself. we are all stardust manifested into this lucky and holy evolution of consciousness. this, to me, is more beautiful and deep than any religious dogma or church could ever be.
i am sure the entrance to the roads of the world is within my own soul.
i once tried to get to the top of the earth's mountain by climbing steep rocky cliffs with no ropes.
i've found a trail head within myself, and i'm not even sure now that there's a peak to the mountain. but i know this path is the only way up to joy.
so today, i am making the promise to myself to stay on my heart's path wherever it may lead. i trust in myself and in the power of my own mind to do good, feel good, and be good. namaste.
so much rain. and thunder. liam is having a not so good summer with all these storms- poor little guy. he paces and pants, drools and trembles, trailing patrick and i as we work and walk around the house. liam, i swear, becomes more terrified of storms with every clap of thunder. :(
~
i really like looking at 'pretty' blogs. who doesn't, right?! nice clean photos, sharp colorful pictures, they get me every time. this blog post, not going to be one of those pretty pieces. it's grey and dark today, and patrick's not home to take photos of me....
plus i am just sweatshopping it up around here! while i work on purusha i honestly look like crap, not like i make clothes for a living! i wear the ugliest things i own because i end up getting so much dye and paint on myself! i look a little like i live in a trailer:
me in my sister's old marlboro pants and pat's monkees t-shirt
i dress down for work ;).
this is what my life is like today:
making tags for clothes
building new screens which i will put emulsion on tonight! yay for new designs!
finishing up orders to mail out.
holy moly!!!! folding the most laundry i've ever seen!
my little herb garden is happily soaking up the rain drops!
aah. the painting my mom created for me in pat and i's bedroom. always soothes my soul.
my little lesson today is:
there is always something beautiful and joyful to be found in our day. look for it, it's there! amid the rain and grey and everyday work, there's an abundance of time for laughter, love, and moments of reflection :).
may you have a peaceful and accomplished day whatever you do! the light in me bows to the light in you.
