Greetings!
I've been living in the Richmond neighborhood of Southeast Portland for 6 years in one lovely home and I'm feeling
it's time for a change
. I'd love to stay in the general Richmond (SE Portland) neighborhood. If the right situation appears in another part of Portland, I'm all ears.
Here's my outreach note on the topic
. Please take a look if you live in the area and keep me in mind when you hear of openings.
I know the world is a bit crazy right now, but some part of me is still happily buzzing from the one-day strike that happened all over the world a few weeks back. It was so incredible to see young people marching in the streets - the costumes, the chants, etc. I've never been at a march which was dominated by young people before - it's an impressive thing - I expect as the reality of climate change kicks in we'll see more activism on that front. At the same time I got to hear this new song by Martyn Joseph called
Here Come the Young
.
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I'm writing to you from Arlington, VA where I'm visiting my brother,
Dan
. We're working on paring Dan's collection of worldly possessions to a smaller amount. I have been doing this myself for about the past year, and my own passion for it has increased especially since I learned about the
100 Thing Challenge
by Dave Bruno. Imagine that - only owning 100 things. For many in the world that is not a challenge because they don't have that many things, but if you're reading this, my guess is that paring down to 100 things would be a challenge :)
It's also interesting being focused on someone else's life. I feel that, like most people, I'm mostly focused on making my way through the life of Albert. But helping someone else with much of my time is kind of refreshing. It reminds me of some of my past thinking about how to get out of a depressed state = being generous is something I turn towards.
There are so many things to be grateful for. I spent last weekend in a luscious soup created by Jaya Lakshmi and Ananda - their
Alter of Love
offering. It included kundalini yoga, sound bath, cacao ceremony, kirtronica (dancing) and a kirtan concert. It was worth every penny. I also got to celebrate my friend Alex's daughter Ruby's 7th birthday with lots of old friends on a dreamy day full of food, music and a fun cemetery meander full of faeries. This coming weekend Dan and I will drive to PA and spend time with my Mom and Dad and hopefully I'll get in a quick visit to the cabin in Sumneytown.
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Being with my brother has its advantages. Dan knows Adobe Illustrator and was able to help me finish the image above (thanks also to Stephanie Lonsdale) which I'm turning into patches. I'll probably end up giving these out to those who are helping on the
Ban the Gas-powered leaf blowers effort
, but I'll also sell them to whoever is interested, too. One small move in the direction of using less gas - actually, it's incredible how much gas is used in lawn maintenance activities. I believe the state of California's pollution is about even between lawn maintenance equipment and cars. Sounds crazy, but 2-stroke engines are notoriously polluting. On this front, our group is waiting for word from Portland City Council member Nick Fish on something very soon.
OK, that's enough for one monthly newsletter. I hope you're doing great. That you are full of health, good food,
love
, and that you're making your way towards fulfillment of your life goals. This period of the Jewish new year has been very potent for me. I hosted a very sweet, and small, Rosh Hashanah party and that really brought home to the value of community, friends, family and learning. And, on we go!
Much love,
Albert
PS - One thing that's keeping me sane is reading Robert Hubbell's 5x a week political commentary which comes via a newsletter. He does a great job of condensing the day's political news into a even-keeled take on national political events. You can
write him
and ask to be added to his newsletter.
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