Sunday, April 18, 2010

passing beauty

I am on the bus to Cusco and the splenor of the landscape grips my attention. I had thought I would read through my bus trips but find that often I am content watching beauty as we pass over the world.

In Bolivia I observed an elegance in the desert. With little flora to enhance the beauty it somehow acheives elegance at the most elemental level. The mountains rise up without the texturing of flowers, trees and shrubs but instead are painted red, black, orange, white and gold by the mineral elements that have shown themselves on the surface. The landscape appears soft and surreal when in fact it is harsh and unforgiving. In the Bolivian desert life is a surprise. Unexpectedly, rabbit like creatures peek from rocks, vicuña bound across the plains towards the next water source. And when you arrive at the lagoons large flocks of flamingos congregate, the thirst if the vicunas is satisfied and sometimes a fox lurks. But as you travel through it, the sun is so bright, the air so dry and water so scarce that you hardly expect to come across life. To witness life in this environment is to see the strength of nature.

It makes me wonder what is the barest necessity for a beautiful life? Is a simplified life a more beautiful life?

Why is it that simplifying my life seems so complicated? How do I fit simplicity into my complex world? Sqeezing in meditation and rushing to yoga seems like the purpose is defeated. I want to garden more, sing and dance, cook for friends. It all takes time. And exercise? How to I best respect this body which is my vehicle for service? The answer is in the simplicity... The body thrives. However the work, the service done by the body adds the complexity. Oi vey... As grandma Jeanne used to say.

All this comes to mind as I transition from the austere beauty of Bolivia to the verdent highlands of Peru.

From my vantage point in seat numer nine, I see the earth as it was made, not as we have made it. Where there are people I see them working with the land that is. Living with the earth not so much on the earth. Their lives seem simple. Their lives seem far from easy.

A strangely beautiful part of being in the Andes is that I am living in a narrow band of sky. The clouds are so close, it often feels like walking in the sky. Sadly I feel like I am walking in the discovery channel as often as I feel it is reality. I don't even own a television and I feel like reality mimics tv.

How can I work in this world in a way that helps to create more natural authentic experiences for everyone?

I love the work that I do. I am ridiculously happy at the thought of returning to it. As I have traveled I have had conversations with people who enthusiastically endorse the need for BGI and those who are incredibly skeptical. Both types of conversations make me see the importance of this work. Both inspire me to spend my life making a better world possible.

So....
How do I come back into the work gracefully and maintain some of the simplicity of this time away? How to transition as naturally as the landscape rather than feeling like someone has simply changed the channel of my television?

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