Invitation to Fly

On the plane from Guatemala City to Chicago, I read the Chinese story of the rat and the ox in "The Te of Piglet." It goes as follows:

Rat and Ox were arguing whether or not size or intelligence is more important. Rat finally conceded that size is more important, but then declared that his size is more impressive than that of the ox. To settle the matter, they decided to promenade through town and see who people found more impressive. But first, Rat asked Buddha to temporarily double his size (to lessen his inevitable embarrassment). Ox was fine with this request, since "I'm still one hundred times bigger than he is!" But when they walked through town, nobody looked at ox. Instead, all the crowds exclaimed "Look at the size of that enormous rat!" 

Everyone had seen an ox before. There was nothing special about the ox.

As I've been spending time in cities (Chicago, Los Angeles) this April, Rat keeps appearing to me in dreams and journeys to the underworld. He is a gigantic rat, a super clever city critter with dirty paws and a tongue for sarcasm. He is a gigantic vortex of fear though he lives in hidden crevices: big in our imaginations yet so small in the physical world. I respect his dirty ways and his intelligence. He is my city spirit guide. 

This blog is devoted to parsing and harmonizing that city-rat-sarcasm-underworld-spirit with the bliss of our conscious universe, the lightweb that I've found in the jungles and forests of the Americas and which breathes simplicity and ease into our not-so-fraught human existence. I believe every individual has the capacity to live a full open-hearted life of passion and exploration, however that may be. Like flies, drawn to the spider's lightweb but then captured, we sometimes see ourselves as stuck. We are caught up in doubts and fears, in the complications of the industrial world. I don't attempt to offer a way out, but a shift in perspective. 

This rat licks the ears of the city-dwellers and reminds them of tree hugging fairies, and the fairies get cosmically (temporarily!) spun back into that strange place people call "reality" (the rat-race, five year plan, activism, inspiration, fear). This blog is a place for those harmonious and dissonant resonances to happen. To witness my own transformations and to be witnessed.

Thanks to M. Inglosolunbe, I have a term to describe my passion of the moment: "human physiognomy," people-watching with a new-age-antique-minded-or-even- Oscar Wildean twist. It's the opposite of the maxim, "you can't judge a book by its cover." I look at people- the way they hold their spine, their stillness v. fidgeting, arm positions, eye contact, smile-- and I feel that I can read already into their soul, at least in relationship to its current environment. I can infer the depth of their hug and the openness of their heart. It's fun, like instead of checking out people's outfits (their outside), you check out their innards! Artists (actors, sculptors, writers) have been into it for eons. It makes me feel like I am both on top of the world, looking down from above with my eagle's eye, and that I'm seeing into the very core of things. Tuning into that all-encompassing mother goddess of concepts...... energy. Which is? (multiple choice): 

Energy is:

a. oil

b. love

c. vague

d. all one

e. calories

f. kundalini, bitches!

g. none of the above

h. all of the above

i. other + evolution towards galactic synchronization + celery

put in your vote! do it!

(google image's take on energy (my faves):)

Leaving the LA city buzz for Oregon redwoods in a couple days. See ya there soon!