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| My home-away-from-home that is now my home |
So I've been here for 5 days now, and so far so good. Monday afternoon when I arrived, I was pretty exhausted and just settled into my room at my friend's house. I'm living with my friend Kay. I've always stayed with her the many times I'd visited Austin over the years. She runs a daycare out of her house, and in the past I'd sleep on a sofabed in her office/baby-napping-crib-filled room. Now I have my own space in the attic. Feels sort of like a dorm room. I even have my bed from college with me-- wow that thing is old. A twin-sized Select Comfort bed. Easy to transport, and having a comfy bed was important to me, so I crammed it into my car. Minimally furnished with just enough. No distractions from the daycare when I'm up here. I have a feeling this is where I'm going to complete writing at least one of my books in progress.
Speaking of writing, one reason I'm here is to help Master Li with a book revision. I found out yesterday that it's going to be easier than expected! Some of the work we thought we'd need to do because of lost notes doesn't need to be done because the notes were found. This is great, as it means more time and energy for me to work on my own writing as well.
I feel so inspired here. So fresh. I think it's a combination of things. A new place (although I am quite familiar with it). The sun. The friendly people. The Sheng Zhen. All the little kids running around the place 5 days a week; they're so cute and creative. The manifestation of this dream of mine. The commitment to focus on qigong and writing only (no bodywork or seeking out a job) for at least the next 3 months, and quite possibly through the end of Spring depending on finances and which doors may open or close here and/or elsewhere.
So have I done any writing yet? Not exactly. Emails. A couple of blog entries. I've been busy settling in. Tuesday went shopping for a few essentials for my room (like a comfy desk chair for all the writing I'll be doing ;)), along with a cute little rug with a lion on it I couldn't resist getting for my friend Sasha's baby girl; she's a leo. Grocery shopping. Eating. I needed to eat a lot the first day or two to get grounded from all the driving. At least that's my excuse. Oh, and I found a great little yoga studio just down the street! Walked home that evening with a smile on my face not just from the yoga, but from an email asking me to teach a few additional classes in Seattle when I visit for a week in November. I went to sleep very happy.
And then it was Wednesday, which was a 12 hour day spent at the acupuncture school down here where Master Li teaches one class after another on Wednesdays, including an evening class open to the public. I've always been curious to see how he starts off a new class session. Although I've been to many workshops, a few teacher trainings, and even some of his weekly classes, I've never had an ongoing weekly experience or been there for the very first class of a series. In a couple of the classes we spent 1 to 2 hours on just 1 movement! It was awesome. I especially enjoyed the movement we did repeatedly in the evening for the form called Releasing the Heart. It involved rubbing your head, circling your hand from chin up the side and back of your head and down the other side, repeatedly. And extra repeatedly since we were practicing it so much! I think it released some major oxytocin in me. Or maybe I was just getting slap happy from such a long day.
But then Thursday I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Groggy and cranky. It wore off for a little while, during my meeting with Master Li about the book revision, and driving him to the airport. But as soon as I headed back to Kay's after dropping him off, I was cranky again. I'd been on cloud 9 so much recently, I didn't mind. In fact, there was something sort of nice about it, oddly enough. I get some pretty deep thoughts and insights when cranky. It's also nice to see how much better I've gotten at just observing myself and practicing compassion, and simply allowing rather than trying to force myself out of it. I still seem to manage to find the silver linings when cranky, but it doesn't mean you should mess with me on those days! ;) My editor machine goes out the window and tolerating others' behaviors or words without calling them on it is unlikely. I called someone on her passive aggressiveness as lovingly and delicately as I possibly could, but it didn't go over so well. Oh well! But I digress....
I don't remember what I did yesterday afternoon. Probably nothing. Literally. And then it was time for an evening class that Kay would be subbing since Master Li was gone. I got to demo the first movement from Origin of the Heart with her since I was the only other person in class who knew it. That cheered me up a bit. I like being able to help. I also met someone in class I could see befriending. That's always nice, especially when new in town.
And today? Well, I decided not to go to a morning dance class and not to go to yoga (at least not til much later), and not to get in my car at all today if possible. I've been driving so much, and so driven, in such a go go go mode that I just wanna chill today. So I spent the first part of the morning playing with some of the kids and then retreated back to my room, where here I am blogging instead of working on my book. But I will. I'm getting there. Yes. I am.
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