Summer Breeze
I’m sitting by the window where cool breeze is blowing through. It’s a nice yet ordinary summer afternoon after a relatively ordinary work day. The Fourth weekend was also an ordinary weekend for me as there was no fireworks. It was just another quiet weekend up here.
When I think about things I can do or places I can go in LA such as Hollywood Bowl, beaches, nice restaurants (particularly Japanese food), I feel quite isolated being up in the mountains. Ironically, after living here for almost 2.5 years, when I am in the city I get overwhelmed by all the choices. There are temptations to spend money every step of the way in the city between food, clothing, entertainment, even transportation (like the scooters, bikes, and Uber, etc. let alone parking!). So I really have to think ahead about my trips into the city.
As I do drive into the city on an average once a week, and I often do spend more than a few days while I’m down there. I try to meet up with friends and clients to catch up, do the shopping for things I need, and visit places in more organized manner as long as I had enough time to make plans. Sometimes, though, I do drive down with a short notice often for business needs. When I do, I think about something else I can accomplish while I’m there — if it’s just to get to the beach for a little while or to catch a friend or two for coffee or a meal last minute.
Meanwhile most of the communities I belong to including InsightLA are still meeting online, and I think most of them will likely stay virtual. Though I miss those communities where I used to see familiar faces on regular bases in person, it makes me feel a tiny bit better as it eliminates a chance for FOMO to rise for me. Even though I was using the video conferencing platforms like Zoom long before the pandemic, it is indeed a different world that I can attend a lot of the “gatherings” whether work related or my spiritual practice related while I’m sitting here feeling the summer breeze looking at the trees outside without having to navigate the congested streets of LA to be a part of a community. It’s not good or bad, it is just how our world unfolded in the last two and a half years. I’m sure things will keep evolving perhaps in a way we can’t even imagine quite yet, but I’m grateful for the technologies that keeps me connected and lets me be in this beautiful place at the same time.