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Learning to Eat

It has been about 5 days since I landed back in Seattle and reentry is going pretty well so far.  My biggest accomplishment was being able to beat my jet lag almost immediately.  My flight back was a long and it really kicked my ass!  I have had plenty of long trips in the past so maybe I am just getting older … anyway it worked in my favor since I was so damn tired I was able to get 2 nights of solid sleep in back-to-back which has seemed to click me over into my new time zone.

My mad dash down to Portland for one night was great, although taxing in and of itself.  I love catching up with my peeps in P-town, they are a great bunch of people and I feel lucky to have them all in my life.

Now that the initial rush of being back has started to slow I’m beginning to experience the oddness of “being back.”  I have lived abroad a long time, about 10 years now and so to be “back” for an extending period creates a condition for deep seated memories to be drawn out and for past ways of being to be remembered.  I’m sure I will post more on this later, but one of these that has struck first is eating.  And, not only eating, but cooking and shopping as well.

I was in the grocery store the other day was totally overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place and the vast array of items to choose from.  I also felt like I could not trust any of the food I was purchasing.

While most of the places I have been traveling and living in the last 10 years do have comparable stores, food selections (fresh and processed) and similar shopping experiences, no other country I have been has such a crisis of dietary health as does the United States.  In my mind, there is no doubt that our food is slowly killing us and that we as a culture need to seriously examine what it is that we want from our food industry here.

The issue of food in America aside, what I am finding now that I am back is that I feel like I don’t know how to eat … a very disconcerting feeling I assure you!

I will devote further musing about this in the future, but suffice to say that, on a causal level, I think what gives rise to this is the convergence of my current way of being and past ways of being that I am remembering now that I am back on “home” ground. I suspect that this is going to be the dominate theme in my life for the next six to eight months while I am back here in the PNW.

As I write this I’m sitting in the airport lounge in Sydney waiting for a flight heading for Seattle. It has been an amazing year and with my return I am bringing to a close a chapter of my life that defies simple description or easy summarization. A lot of stuff has shifted (transformed) for me and, while I did not go everywhere or do everything that I had originally planned, I did get what I got and what I got has been profound.

I titled this post with a cliché that I think is rather appropriate. I know that clichés can be tricky things to use as a writer, but this one jumped up at me a few weeks back. It was a real ‘light bulb’ moment and it is a transformation I really want to share.

The way I always understood “wherever you go, there you are” in the past was with the emphasis on the part of you being at some place; the word there being the key to the meaning. That is: you are there. “There” becomes a tangible thing and functions to divide you from it and, in so doing, you are created as something distinct and separate. Your you then becomes something that is created, not by you, but by it.

In the end, place is just place and exists only as it does. What is a mountain to a mountain? What is a sunset to the sun? Mountains are only beautiful because we use language (and agreement) to create them as such.

It is through our language that we create things as we want them to be. So what would life be like if I instead choose that place is not what creates me, but that I create place? And that, wherever I go, there I am.

So if place is just place, what then might be important about different places? The obvious answer might be the common denominator of “I” being what’s different. This is certainly true.

However, what I found truly profound and what really flipped my switch was not that I could create being in some locality, but that there is created by community and the relationships with other people to be found in those different places. What becomes important then is not the I but the we.

So if the physicality of place no longer matters and that I know myself to be someone who can self generate identity, what then is possible?

With this question in mind as I begin this journey to a place called “home,” where exists a community of family and friends, what is possible in the that place?

What is possible is whatever we choose to create.

Wherever you go, there you are.

Cockatoo Island




Cockatoo Island

Originally uploaded by David Mark Erickson

I spend my birthday on Cockatoo Island which is located in Sydney Harbor. A former shipyard, it has been converted into an open public space. The old industrial buildings have been converted into housing art spaces creating a ginormous modern art museum and urban playground.

I’ve posted my pics from the island both on flickr and facebook.

Enjoy

Wertago Station

I’m spending a few weeks on a cattle and sheep station in the far western part of the Australian state of New South Wales.  A ‘station’ is what we would call a ‘ranch’ back in the USA.  I’ll be checking what station life is life for a family who live and work on their ranch in the Australian outback.

Here is a link to the google maps for the location of the Wertago homestead:
Wertago Station

I’ve posted a few pics on facebook:
Life on Wertago Station

Working Dogs

Working Dogs

Wertago Station

Mustering Sheep on Wertago Station

Sydney Sunday

Walk in the Park

Walk in the Park

It always feels great to get a beautiful, blue sky day following a couple of days of rain and gray.  We started the day off with a visit to a funky little Sunday market in the neighborhood of Marrickville .  I’ve seen a lot of markets on my travels and each is imbued with its own unique character and vibe.  The area where the Marrackville markets take place are covered in trees which gives the whole place a cool and relaxed vibe.  I have to say that it was one of the most enjoyable markets I have been to!

After the market we headed for the Sydney Botanical Gardens and the Art Gallery of New South Wales for the closing day of an exhibition on Japanese wood block prints.  The prints were amazing and the video of how the wood blocks (basically big stamps) are made really drove home what an incredible art form this is.

Hymn to beauty – the art of Utamaro

Across the hall from the wood block prints was an exhibition called ArtExpress which features the work of High School students from around Australia.  I left that exhibition totally floored by the ingenuity and incredible self expression of the young artists who were featured in that particular installation.  Check out the online gallery if you have a moment: Inside ArtExpress 2010

I think the coolest of the works on display was “Dragster” by Joshua Warren.  He took the parts of a bicycle and welded them into the frame just like you would get when you would buy a plastic toy model; inspired.  I also really enjoyed “Fictitious decay” by Imogen Darling-Blair.  Although, two pick only two from the 44 works on display is not easy since they were all so amazing!

After that, ice cream in the park followed by a DVD (we watched Where the Wild Things Are).
Not bad for a sunny day in Sydney. Here are some pics from the our day out and about:

Olives

Olives on sale from Molive at the Marrickville Organic Market

Life Out There

House sitting two cats at the moment and they are just too darn cute not to photograph.

My New Yoga Mat

Yes – it has been ages since I last posted here … I think the last time was when I was in Eliat, Israel about to cross into Egypt.  Somehow I made it all the way to Australia without posting once in four months!! Well, now I am “back” and so expect to see regular updates.  I may or may not ever get around to filling in what happened between December and April, we’ll see.

Since getting to Australia I have been able to get back into a semi-regular yoga practice, which feel really good.  The first few weeks back in the studio were a killer after not having had any yoga since Tel Aviv AND all the “fun” I had while in Egypt.  Back now my body feels like its back into the swing of things and I am feeling strong.  So, given that I am essentially homeless and have had to borrow or rent towels whenever I want to do yoga, I finally decided to buy myself a fancy yoga towel.  It was waaay more expensive than I imagined and I seriously can’t afford it right now(I’m nearly broke at the mo), but I am soooo happy with it!! I used it for the first time yeasterday and it was awesome.  It’s very smooth, very thin and has a nice texture.  It’s made with some kind of special super absorbent micro-fibers so it folds up nice and small and is cut just a bit bigger than my yoga mat–basically it’s perfect.  And I love it!

ANZAC Day Hat Trick

Last Sunday was ANZAC Day here in Australia.  It not only commemorates the invasion of Gallipoli, but also serves as a day to honor the men and women who serve in Australia armed forces.

I covered three of the official events in Sydney.  Here are the links to the stories I filed at Demotix:

ANZAC Day Dawn Service

Australians Remember Fallen Soldiers at ANZAC Day Dawn Service

ANZAC Day March

“Lest We Forget” ANZAC Day March Honors Australia’s Armed Forces

ANZAC Day Commemoration

Solemn Service Commemorates Australia’s Fallen Heroes

Travel Update

Eilat, Israel

Eilat, Israel

Well, another long dry spell of not posting to my blog and a dearth of photos from my travels. What can I say? Not much, except to warn anyone who things they might want to keep a blog … save yourself the trouble unless you are very dedicated to writing and/or journal keeping.  The self imposed guilt trip of not posting is not worth the trouble!

OK, with my obligatory self-flagellation out of the way I can get on with this post.  As I write this I am sitting at a mall-side café in Eilat, Israel looking out at the northern end of the Red Sea.  The last month has been rather paradoxical in that a lot has happened for me, but not in the typical travel adventure sort of way.

[Ed’s Note: I wrote this this morning, but have not found a reliable internet connection until now (early evening).  The only decent open wifi spot I found, where I am sitting right now, is at a bus stop across the street from the main shopping mall on the main drag running through town!]

I arrived in Israel exactly one month ago on Christmas day.  I started out in Jerusalem and then spent most of my time in Tel Aviv.  I made some small trips to Bethlehem, Haifa and Nazareth.  I am now about to cross into Egypt – which I am really looking forward to.

While I was in Tel Aviv, I spent some time at the Landmark Education center and assisted on two back-to-back weekends helping on the Production Team for the running of a Forum and Advanced Course.  Some of you know that I am a Landmark grad having done the Forum and Advanced Course back in Aug & Sep when I was home in Seattle.  I’ll save comment for what I think about Landmark for another occasion, suffice to say that attending the courses were extremely profound and what I have learned has changed the course of my life in ways I could never have imagined.

Being able to participate in the Assisting Program at the Tel Aviv center was amazing. It was also great fun and inspirational to be able to spend time with the people I met there.

As a result, I find myself operating with a new sense of freedom and enjoyment for my travels.  To be honest, there have been time on this trip where I have really questioned why the hell I was out here rambling around and spending my savings.  That self-doubt has disappeared and, like a ship cut loose from its anchor, I am free now to enjoy and appreciate my adventures in a whole new way.

Yoga Diaries: Tel Aviv

So the yoga is going well.  I have gotten in four classes in five days, with one day off yeasterday so I could do a day trip to Bethlehem and to give my body a break at the same time.  The studio here offers some interesting classes, of which I have taken every opportunity to try out.  I figure that I am here so might as well.

The candle light only class was very interesting.  The class is at night and there is some light that comes in through the windows, but basically the room is lit only with candles – and it’s tough as hell!  Since you don’t have any visual cues, balance goes right out the window!  Also, the mind tends to wander off a lot more than in a regular class.  Again,  not having visual cues sets the condition for the brain to wander off, sort of like Nixon rambling around on the beach in San Clemente after he resigned.  I digress.

The other cool class, also my favorite, was the silent class.  The instructor does all the postures with the class and the only things she says are “start” or “change” or similar.  It is really great for focus and discipline as well as harmony in the room as everyone gets into synchronization to keep the timing for each pose just right.

Of the two other classes, I have done one in Hebrew and one in English (tonight’s class).  The Hebrew class was just like when I was in Budapest and attending Hungarian classes.  Most Bikram instructors have done their training in English so are always able to offer corrections and encouragement in English when needed.  The English class I had tonight was really good, both since my body is starting to respond as well as the style of the instructor.  She had just the right mixture of encouragement, information and direction.

I should be able to get in one more normal class before my seven day pass is up.  As well, I am going to book a private lesson … I am excited and nervous about this.  I’m nervous cause I don’t want to look like a buffoon to the instructor, but that is just my “wanting to look good” instinct kicking in, which I can safely ignore.  I am excited since it will be a real boost to my practice.

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