Dear friends,
I know I’m a bit late which is totally normal for me, but better late than never! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL!!!
May 2013 be a year filled with joy, love and peace for all beings in all the universes, seen and unseen…..
My family and I have just returned from a beautiful trip to Brazil and I’m finding the adjustment a bit difficult… Summer to winter, relaxing at the beach to getting back to work…. Jet lag is a weird disorder. But basically, all’s well.
Brazil was a time for reconnection. First reconnecting with our lovely Brazilian Kirtan community, then with Nubia’s vast and incredibly affectionate family (who are now my family, as well) and, lastly, with the divinely human trinity of Nubia, Ezra Gopal, and myself….
In São Paulo we had such great Kirtans. Thank you Gui, Rama Kumara Dasa, Govinda Dasa, Dacha, Jose Neto, Charlie at Yoga Flow, Andy & Fe at Aruna Yoga, and all our sweet friends. The light on Solstice night was shining brightly! And guess what…. The world didn’t end!
Then Christmas Eve with family. Seeing Nubia’s happiness melting in the arms of her mother made the whole trip worthwhile. But, gosh, when am I going to get my Portuguese together? Ezra was speaking perfectly, making friends wherever he went and feeling so comfortable with the Brazilian side of his heritage. Playing soccer, telling jokes, sneaking sips of Coca-Cola!!!!!
On Christmas Day we traveled to Bahia, to an island called Morro de São Paulo. A plane, a boat, and a long hike through the sand and we collapsed into the gentle embrace of Yemanja, the mother of the sea…. Every day we’d step outside of our little cottage and into the ocean where the tide pools allowed us to visit with thousands of colorful fish. Then some coconut water and a dip in the pool before our daily foosball tournament. It was boys against girls – Ezra and I on one team versus the mighty Nubia… Touch and go, but us guys emerged victorious….
Ok, I’m rambling again. But really what I want to share is that this period of downtime was so healing and nourishing and so needed after a long and somewhat challenging year. Yes, it took me several days to unwind, to stop worrying about being ‘productive’. (After all, it was the first New Year’s in 10 years that we didn’t do our Kirtan Camp.) But after a little while I found myself surrendering to the amazing spirit of the ocean and the earth, and to the truly blessed love of my family. Happy New Year!!!!!
So now we’re back home… Many projects, concerts and tours are in the works for 2013. Hopefully I can keep my internal rhythm a bit slowed down to really enjoy and give my best to the work I do… And, God-willing, I hope we can all keep our hearts more and more in tune with the Divine melody, the inner calling, our true essences in the year to come….
Much love and light,
