When In Doubt, Go For A Walk

Yesterday, I attended a celebration at the Forest Meditation Center in Landers (see earlier post). The event was twofold: first, the consecration of a new granite statute of Buddha which had arrived only a couple of days before, and second, an early celebration of Thai New Year. We were invited to bring potluck lunch and I had visions of a dozen or so health food options on a table. Little did I realize that the center has quite a following and many people had traveled from LA. There were full on Thai treats all over the shaded ceremony area which made my couscous look rather paltry.




The ceremonies, starting with alms for the monks, were relatively brief and the lunch break was relatively long - just the way I like it. There were some wonderful touches like receiving a blessing for the new year by pouring scented water into the hands of the monks. A pot of flowers was situated below each monk so that none of the water was wasted. That was before people began to soak each other, and me, in the Thai tradition as New Year is at the hottest time of the year in Asia.



I met a trio of new faces at the Center - a painter, a Russian photographer and a Dutch print artist reluctant to call herself an artist. This led to a discussion of definitions of art and artist that got to the heart of some of the considerations I'm facing out here. These questions have been arising for me and challenging my sense of getting settled and making work.



They say coming down is harder than going up. This is true for mountain walking, drug use and the high I get from travel and novelty. The challenge of just what I'm looking to accomplishing here has taken the rosy edge off my vision and thankfully so. I'm starting to bite into things, sensing my vulnerabilities and using my life training to move forward.

So, I'm learning to just go for a walk. Out the door, onto the mountain, up and over into the wilderness. Imagine my surprise when yesterday's walk led me to crest a new peak and gaze down on the strange sight of old railway cars and a mini gauge railroad complete with station. Ends up the Joshua Tree and Southern Railroad Museum is just round the mountain from me. This was enough to put a smile on my face and remind me of the endless variety of human endeavor.