I have arrived, I am home

Saturday, May 17th

A big dream of mine came true last month. I visited several intentional communities over the years and wished to live in one myself, and now not only do I live in one, but I helped start it. (*throws confetti*)

Yesterday was my birthday, my continuation day and I celebrated at home with a small tea party in the evening. We had Thai food (my favorite), tea and cake together with a few good friends. It felt not only like a celebration of my continuation, but a celebration of friendship and a celebration of this beautiful vision (the sangha house) coming to life.

In a world that is so divided, where loneliness is an epidemic, we are so lucky to have each other and this beautiful spiritual practice. Every Wednesday at 7 PM we host a meditation here facilitated by those of us living in the house and on the second Saturday of every month we join the Order of Interbeing Wake Up Study Group together. This past Saturday Diana joined us too and Garrett, Sean, Diana and I practiced, listened and participated in the meeting together. Brother Pham Hanh gave a delightful dharma talk which made an impact on us all; I wish we could invite him and his coffee roaster to the sangha house. Afterwards Diana and I did some stretching and yoga while Liz made a delicious Filipino lunch we all enjoyed. When we have meals together (this deserves its own blog post), when we meditate together, when we have study group together my heart is full. This is the vision that made us choose the sangha house, not the leaking shower, the messed-up windows or the downstairs toilet that is currently being replaced. (In the words of Lesley Gore and my sangha sister Sheryl it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want because I don’t have a toilet)

Casiana bowing out

Ps. I’m going to add some pictures, thank you Diana and Victor for welcoming us to the neighborhood with pizza last month.